Birthright - David Hingley

1664. Four years after Charles II is restored to the throne, Mercia Blakewood stands to lose everything: her father to the executioner's axe, her freedom to her treacherous uncle, her son to his resentful grandparents. But when her father leaves her a cryptic message in his last speech, she seizes her chance to fight back.With would-be lover Nathan Keyte and unlikely new friend Nicholas Wildmoor, Mercia must unravel her father's mystery to find a great prize long thought lost, striving to recover the King's stolen birthright in the hope of reclaiming her own. From London's bulging metropolis to the forests of Manhattan she will contend with murder, intrigue and lust, fighting for her future and her life as the town of New York is born.

Originally from the Midlands, David Hingley worked in the Civil Service before leaving to fulfil his long-term ambition to write. Having spent three years in New York, David returned to the UK in 2016. He has now written three books in the Mercia Blakewood series: Birthright, Puritan and Traitor.