Book review – Seething Lane by Jack Jewers

I have just finished reading Seething Lane by Jack Jewers, a novel in which Samuel Pepys is reinvented as a sleuth, swashbuckler and firefighter, acting on behalf of Charles II to investigate the murder of a libertine aristocrat. 

First of all, thanks to the lovely people at Moonflower for sharing this pre-sale copy with me but, having read every single word, I can safely confirm that this is not my genre. I prefer my fact and fiction to be strictly delineated, unless the resulting faction is historically correct. Jewers' characters here are a mix of real people interspersed with fabricated, mostly theatrical players. It's Pepys as TV sleuth with Nell Gwyn as his bawdy Cockney 'I ain't heard nothing' sidekick. 

I'm not seething, just disappointed. I struggled. I kept stopping within the narrative to double-check things that I was convinced couldn't be historically possible. I kept questioning why he/she might have known him/her, why person X would have done something when the history books I'd previously consulted told us something different. 

Also, the story is told in the first person by Samuel Pepys* so I'd rather expected it to be written in the same style of the time as per his real diaries. Instead, we hear characters talking very much as people speak today yet occasionally throwing in random words like perorating, betimes or cods, making it inconsistent. I found the whole thing frustrating and, taking on board that it's said to be "a page-turning crime thriller' (the FT) I kept going, hoping to reach a 'ping' moment when I'd feel that it had been worth the effort. That moment never arrived.

At the end of the book Jewers gives us explanation for his historical mash-up within a 19-page chapter called Historical Notes. Much of this would have been more useful had it been told to us before we started reading the story, perhaps as an introduction, near the character list at the front of the book. Jewers tells us that he felt that some important facts could be left out and other facts could be twisted, adapted or totally omitted to better fit his narrative. This explanation section which includes real information about Pepys and the time he lived is actually the best-written part of the book because Jewers' as historian is much easier to follow than his story-telling and clunky invented conversations. 

Would I recommend this book? Well, it depends how wobbly you like the line between fact and fiction to be. Basically, if you know anything about this period of history, this yarn is not for you. However, if you are a fan of historical whodunnits and all you know about Samuel Pepys is that he wrote a diary and buried a cheese during the Great Fire of London, then you'll love it. 

Oh, and one more thing, it's a chunky book. At over 450 pages, it is unlikely to fit in your handbag or your coat pocket. You'll need a rucksack or a comfy sofa.  

Seething Lane will be available from all good bookstores from 3rd September 2026.

*How do we know that his name was pronounced Peeps? How has this been handed down to us? Why make a single E sound more like two, and then lose the sound of the Y completely?! Why not Peppis? This makes more sense to me. I am not aware of anyone else with the Pepys name, but I do know a family called Pepper, which I wonder comes from the same root.