Lazarus Unlocked

One locked-room. Two murders, 373 years apart. What's the link?

By: Peter Stevens, Ian Honeysett

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The ‘impossible’ murder of Colonel Richard Jackson of Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army, in a locked room in Lazarus College, Oxford, in 1648 has never been solved – despite being investigated at the time by the illustrious Henry Marten MP.
In COVID-ridden 2021, the arrogant, but brilliant Professor Julian Taylor, claims to have finally solved the mystery in his forthcoming book. True-to-style, he announces that he will explain more in a zoom meeting on 21 March from the very room where Jackson died. Tickets will be at a premium!
After outlining the facts of the case, he announces that he has not only solved Jackson’s murder, but has also uncovered a long-term conspiracy that could shake the foundations of the British state. Suddenly, a figure, dressed as from the civil war, appears behind him. At first, this looks like one of Taylor’s well-known stunts. But the figure pulls a knife and viciously stabs Taylor to death.
Leading the police investigation into this murder is Chief Inspector Amy Swann, herself a history graduate. She leads a team with her deputy, Detective-Sergeant Mark Rowan, a young man with his own points to prove.
Amy soon finds herself investigating two murders, not one, 373 years apart. She quickly comes to the conclusion that, somehow, the two deaths are connected: very possibly by the ‘conspiracy’ that Taylor was starting to discuss when he was murdered. It also looks as if Henry Marten did, in fact, solve the murder of Jackson. But, if so, then why didn’t he reveal the solution at the time?
As the investigation into Taylor’s murder progresses, so the body count rises. The nearer Amy gets to the truth, the more she feels personally in danger.
Events reach a climax over Easter 2021 as CI Amy Swann, now sick with COVID, and an increasingly isolated DS Mark Rowan, finally uncover a secret that could shake Oxford and the British state, to its very core.