If you love historical mystery and suspense as much as I do, you’ll love the swashbuckling adventure that is Jacob’s Last Standish, the final installment of author Ellis Blackwood’s incredible Samuel Pepys Mysteries.

This brilliant series follows acclaimed diarist Samuel Pepys’ intrepid inquisitors, Pepys’ former maid, Abigail Harcourt, and Jacob Standish, whom Pepys gave a job as a deathbed pledge to Jacob’s father, Sir Miles Standish, investigating everything from witch trials, to plague-masked killers, murders of royal mistresses, threats to the king’s life, plots to steal the Crown Jewels, as well as the pair’s own personal quests.

Inspired by Pepys’ actual diaries, Blackwood has exquisitely crafted a pop-up picture book in the reader’s mind of 17th century London, where the nine volumes of whodunits take place over four months time, from the fall of 1666, as the embers of the Great Fire are taking hold in the city that had been besieged with the plague just the previous year, through January 1667, holding pace and tension from one book to the next with deftly woven mysteries and intrigue that keep you guessing.

In Jacob’s Last Standish, plagued by a lifetime of self-doubt, the titled character needs to draw up every ounce of breath and bit of confidence he has, to overcome himself, go after the murderous, treasonous Colonel Blood, avenge the death of a young woman who saved his life, and in his mind, prove his worth as his father’s son.

After Abby receives a letter from her brother, Will, who feared for his life, she ignores admonitions from Pepys and Jacob to stay away from him. When last Pepys and the inquisitors had seen Will, who at one time had been in league with a fanatical Puritan group, he had threatened them all.
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How I wish I could tell you more without giving spoilers away!

Suffice it to say, there were tears in my eyes during Pepys’ speech near the end. I am ever so grateful to have spent time with Abby and Jacob, cheer them on and watch them grow over these past two years, thanks to Blackwood’s prolific writing. I also enjoyed the author’s rich variety of colorful characters, who would pop into plots throughout the series. I will miss them all. (Hopefully, only until they make their way on screen.)

I highly recommend Jacob’s Last Standish to fans of historical fiction, historical mysteries and British mysteries. I received an advance reader’s copy of Jacob’s Last Standish, courtesy of the author and Vintage Mystery Press
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Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

If you’re interested in learning more about Samuel Pepys, his diary is available online. Pepys’ diary entries from 1665 are also woven into the narrative of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated The Great Plague by Dorothy and Lloyd Moot (for which I was privileged to host a C-Span BookTV episode).

Review by Di Prokop
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