Angels of the mud

Old Portsmouth, England is walking distance to the dockyard and resting place to Nelson’s flagship: HMS Victory. Today Old Portsmouth, also known as Spice Island, is a very upmarket area, but In 1907 it was a place to be avoided. It was a naval red light area where Pub brawls were commonplace and in warmer months, tide permitting, ragged kids would tussle in the harbour mud for coins thrown to them by travellers from the causeway above. These are the facts that separate the following fiction. At Boswell’s: naval outfitters a young seamstress is brutally murdered. The vacant post is filled by Nell Masters, a pretty sixteen-year-old. Nell, having lost her father in a fatal accident is made to be the bread-winner for her and her work-shy young mother. Nell finds her first love while working at Boswell’s but jealousy and conspiracy among fellow workers result in Nell being threatened by the hangman’s noose. This is the beginning of a fast moving and gripping tale.