Thief Taker Books In Order

Publication Order of The Thief Taker Books

The Thief Taker book series is a popular series of mystery, historical fiction, thriller, and suspense novels. This series is written by a renowned English writer named C.S. Quinn. It is comprised of four books and one novella in total published between 2014 & 2018. Each and every novel of this series contains the lead protagonist in the role of Charlie Tuesday. Author Quinn has described Charlie as a thief taker, who takes up small cases to solve. Mostly, he is approached by people who get robbed and ask him to catch the thieves. Quinn has set the plots in the 1660s in London. At the series’ beginning, Charlie Tuesday is shown earning his living by tracking cut-purses and villains. He sees that things are not what they seem and comes across mysteries that are way over the brilliant detective skills of his own. As London gets embroiled in plague, Charlie Tuesday takes on murder investigations and gets involved in a world full of intrigue, witchcraft, and deep mysteries. The initial plot opens in the year 1665.

Quinn has depicted that Charles II is sitting on England’s throne for the last five years. He seems enthusiastic towards the Restoration. As his reign continues, Charles fails to reward the Royalist supporters, who lost everything in Civil War. Instead, he prefers to spend money on his favorites and mistresses. The society still seems filled with Cromwelllian sympathizers and witchcraft starts making a return. To add to the misery, plague starts spreading everywhere in England and threatens to victimize the people of London also. Every week, thousands of people lose their lives to the plague. Normal life goes through a breakdown because of inadequate resources, provisions, and facilities. Quinn has very well described the sights, smells, and sounds of plague sufferers and the dying city that looks horribly realistic and not for those with a faint heart. In this backdrop, Charlie Tuesday makes his first appearance in the story as a young thief taker. He indulges in activities related to the recovering of stolen properties of wealthy clients.

Charlie appears a part private-eye and part bounty hunter. Quinn has described him as a smart, likeable, and intelligent man with high contacts in the underworld of London. Charlie got his surname from the hospital where he grew up, a place where kids are named after the day they are brought there. He doesn’t have much information about his past and the only clue he has is in the form of strange key that he wears as a pendant around his neck all the time. Every time Charlie tries to find about his past, the key leads him to danger. Quinn seems to have exploited the fact that people know very less about the historical events and characters. Overall, the series appears to be a well-constructed and fast paced combination of mystery, love story, horror, and quest. The grim background setting also adds to the stories’ interesting elements. The plots are filled with sensual depictions, action, twists & turns, etc. With the series’ progress, the character of Charlie Tuesday also progresses and the readers get to see different shades of his character. Every story in this series offers an interest read and keeps the readers intrigued. Quinn received wide appreciations for her portrayal of the exciting characters and plots, which led to the series’ grand success in all the places of its release.

An outstanding book in The Thief Taker series has the title ‘Dark Stars’. It was released in 2016 and contains the lead characters as Lily Boswell, Charlie Tuesday, and several others. At the story’s start, it is depicted that the Great Fire has caused a lot of destruction in London. Amid the ashes, several brutal murders take place and Charlie Tuesday gets involved in the investigation of the series of strange murders. Several dead bodies wash up to the shore of Deptford and each bears the marking of strange astrological predictions. When Charlie Tuesday witnesses the marks, he realizes that the deadly killer is preparing to unleash something very devastating on England. He teams up with a gutsy street girl named Lily Boswell and sets on the course of finding the maniac killer. Charlie knows that the only way to stop the string of killings is by catching the killer and putting him behind the bars. But, Charlie doesn’t know that the terrible destinies of both the men are entwined and their fates have been written in dark stars. This book offers the readers a very enjoyable chapter from Charlie’s life. They also get to witness the growing closeness between Lily and Charlie. On the whole, the book is fast paced and very entertaining. Quinn’s detailed narrative and intricate plotting was highly appreciated by her fans. In addition to the mystery, this novel includes other exciting elements like debilitated castles, Roman gods, pirates, astrology, sailor myths, underground passages, etc., which combine to give a rapid and fun read.

Another excellent book of the series has the title ‘The Changeling Murders’. It was released in 2018 and consists of the main characters in the roles of Maria, Charlie Tuesday, Lily Boswell, The King, and a few others as well. The story is set in London in 1667. At the book’s beginning, it is described that following the Great Fire, London tries to get back on its feet and emerge into a new city. The King declares to reopen the theaters in the capital for the common people. Also, the royal court offers to give the people debauched entertainment. While everyone is immersed in the glittering festivities, a dead body is discovered that puts everyone in shock. The deceased is found to be an actress, who was shockingly wearing a disappeared girl’s clothes.

On the other hand, Charlie Tuesday feels his life is going through great changes. His old love interest, Maria, has decided to marry another man. While Maria is on her way to get married, she gets kidnapped. When Charlie comes to know about this kidnapping, he senses that this kidnapping is connected with the murder. Meanwhile, London is about to explode into a shocking riot. Theaters and brothels are attacked in different places. Lily and Charlie think they must find and catch the culprit before the anger of the mob rises too much. As the mystery continues to deepen, London’s streets get filled with violence. Charlie Tuesday must decode a riddle as the well-being of London and Maria highly depends on it.