My second
Alexander Baxby novel NAMING THE DEAD is an exciting tale of murder, mystery
and suspense, set against the colourful backdrop of early seventeenth century Amsterdam.
Political and religious intrigue are closely entwined, as in the first book
PAYING IN BLOOD. Alongside Baxby’s fictional quest to uncover the truth, historical
events are seen through the eyes and ears of ordinary men and women, on both
sides of the Narrow Sea.
Escaping to
Amsterdam with his friends in 1608, physician Baxby hopes to start his life
anew, free from his former spymaster Geoffrey and English Church control. However,
his confidence is shaken when the body of a young Englishman is found beneath
the Blue Bridge, which links the city to islands where immigrants live. Baxby’s
friends assume the death was an accident, canal pavements being notoriously
slippery when wet. He suspects the young man was murdered by an agent of Richard
Bancroft, the tenacious Archbishop of Canterbury. Amsterdam is not as safe as Baxby
expected.
Situated at the
mouth of the River Ij, the city was the largest in the Dutch Republic and an
important centre for European trade. After the seven northernmost low country
provinces won independence from Spain in 1581, Amsterdam played a key role as
the new nation grew to eclipse its neighbours in engineering, trade, wealth and
art. Overseas goods were unloaded from the long line of ships on the
harbourfront, sold in Dam Square and swiftly reloaded on to smaller vessels for
transport across inland waterways. The city was home to the prosperous Dutch
East and West India trading companies, and the world’s first stock exchange. De
Wallen’s brothels were profitable too, conveniently located close by.
Investigating
the suspicious death beneath the Blue Bridge, Baxby is surprised to learn the Englishman
had a lucrative job at the Weighing House, or Waag, in Dam Square.
Whilst Amsterdam welcomed all manner of immigrants, fleeing persecution and
poverty elsewhere, most were restricted to poorly paid work. Dutch middle-class
burghers and guildsmen bought elegant brick canal houses, and commissioned paintings
from Dutch Masters we still admire today. Immigrants typically lived in
inferior conditions on the islands outside the medieval walls, beyond the Blue Bridge.
When a second body is found beneath its arches, Baxby fears who will be next.
Life in
Amsterdam is more challenging than the physician expected. His patients and
neighbours include Anabaptists, traumatised mercenaries, and Jews and Muslims who
fled Spain to escape forced conversion by the Inquisition. Unusually for the seventeenth
century, they were allowed to worship according to their own customs, providing
they are discreet. All are nervous about the implications of a possible Truce
between the Dutch Republic and its former Habsburg Spanish rulers. With
everyone relying on pamphlets for news, Baxby is incensed when the names of the
English victims appear on some, posthumously accrediting them with Spanish
sympathies.
Baxby’s dreams
of marrying and buying his own canal house prove hard to realise, but he does
not relent nor forget those who have died. Only when his own life is
threatened, does he begin to uncover lies, misinformation and malevolence on a
scale he never imagined. His life hangs by a thread, but Baxby does not give
up. Eventually, with the help of his friends, the physician uncovers disturbing
truths, about the murders in Amsterdam and wider political rivalry in the Dutch
Republic.
Although the
outline of the original city can still be seen, Amsterdam has changed many
times since. The city’s Central Station sits on the site of the old
harbourfront. The most prominent immigrant island has been replaced by the
Waterloo square and transport hub. Former Jewish residents are remembered in
the nearby Jewish Museum, which tracks their history in the city since 1600.
The courage and
resilience of seventeenth century men and women continues to inspire me,
including the historical Mayflower Pilgrims and first Baptist leaders who
feature amongst Baxby’s friends in NAMING THE DEAD. Undoubtedly, they were
influenced by their time in Amsterdam’s ‘melting pot’. In particular, ex-lawyer
and Baptist leader Thomas Helwys made the first English plea for religious freedom
in his book A Short Declaration of the Mystery of
Iniquity. After writing it, he returned to London to petition King James for religious
liberty, on behalf of people of all faiths and none, and subsequently died in
Newgate gaol as a result. Fictional Alexander Baxby will also return to England
in my next novel, in very different circumstances to those in which he left.