“The Sword & Scabbard is a gripping, informative and wide-ranging historical drama set in the period leading up to the Boston Massacre. . . . it’s an eye-opening account of the currents and cross-currents as various factions and individuals in the city struggle for advantage, profit or simple survival. Allen Woods shows the arrogance of the British but also the mixture of motives behind even the most ardent of rebels and revolutionaries. He chooses an unconventional hero in Nicholas Gray, thief and smuggler and half-rebel, he knows 18th century Boston like the back of his hand, and brings to life and colour a range of intriguing characters. This is the start of a very promising series.”

Philip Gooden, author of the Nick Revill series of Shakespearian mysteries, the Cathedral murder mystery series set in Victorian England, an acclaimed nonfiction writer, and former Chair of Crime Writers Association, http://www.philipgooden.com/?page_id=24