PREVIOUS BOOK IN SERIES: INTRIGUE IN COVENT GARDEN, ISBN 9780751562699. In the spring of 1666 everyone's first reaction to a sudden death at the palace of White Hall is that the plague has struck, but the killing of Thomas Chiffinch was by design, not disease, and Thomas Chaloner is ordered to undertake the investigation. At the same time, London is abuzz with rumors of dissent and rebellion, fueled by predictions from a soothsayer in Clerkenwell of a rain of fire destroying the capital on Good Friday. Chaloner initially dismisses such talk as nonsense, but as he uncovers ever more connections to Clerkenwell among his suspects, he begins to fear that there is also design behind the rumors - and that, come Easter Day, the King and his Court might find themselves the focus of yet another rebellion.