The Reading Bud

Book Details:

Author: Adam Williams
Release Date: 1 November 2025
Series:
Genre: Historical Mystery, Suspense
Format: E-book 
Pages: 382 pages
Publisher: Earnshaw Books Ltd
Blurb:
Egypt 1099 CE, Qahira (Cairo)
Samuel, a Jewish doctor versed in alchemy, and Gregory, his English apprentice, are investigating a terrifying plague. The Nile has turned red with blood and fish are dying.
Near a small island, they wrangle a badly torn body from the jaws of a crocodile — but was this beast the killer? Samuel suspects foul play yet the authorities block his efforts to find the truth at every step. Ignoring the warnings from people in high places, and with nothing more to guide him than his scientific method, Samuel is determined to persist in his quest, especially after a series of gruesome murders seem to confirm his early suspicion.

Little does he know that the secret he will stumble on could shake the empire.
Assassins are on the prowl. A child is being hunted. Who finds him first will change the course of history..

Review

A River of Blood by Adam Williams is a richly textured historical mystery set in 1099 Egypt, where science, faith, and power collide. Set across Fustat and Qahira (old Cairo), the book opens in a world of scholarship, court intrigue, and gathering dread. Author Williams anchors the story in a striking image: the Nile “turning to blood” and fish dying, a scientific mystery that echoes Exodus while refusing easy mysticism. It’s a hook that blends atmosphere, theology, and empiricism in one sweep, and it pulled me in immediately.

The characterisation is brilliant and the world-building is superb. Author Williams weaves theology and politics into the mystery, so the stakes are never just “whodunnit,” but who gets to define truth: the scholar, the priest, or the state. The prose is clean and vivid; action beats snap, but what really stays with you are the moral compromises people make to survive the empire.

Without spoiling the turns, I will share that the volume closes on an earned pivot toward Jerusalem, with a neat blend of intimate vow and geopolitical fuse. It’s a satisfying end-point for Book 1. I turned the last page both satisfied and hungry for the continuation. A River of Blood is a learned and atmospheric historical crime mystery that mirrors Umberto Eco’s curiosity with Michael Jecks’ momentum. For readers who like their mysteries braided with theology, politics, and human tenderness, this will be a perfect read.

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