Liss, David [Benjamin Weaver #1], (A Conspiracy of Paper [hc, Random House, 2000]) 978-0375502927 [pb, Random House, 2001] 978-0804119122 – The debut novel that won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. It centers on 1719 London and the South Sea Bubble.
United Kingdom · Fiction author
David Liss
David Liss (born in 1966 in New Jersey, raised in South Florida, residing today in San Antonio, Texas) is a prominent historical mystery novelist whose work frequently explores the intersection of Jewish identity, high finance, and the criminal underworld in the 18th century. His most notable exploration of these themes is through the Benjamin Weaver series, which begins with the Edgar Award-winning novel A Conspiracy of Paper. The series follows Benjamin Weaver, a character who embodies the “Jew as an outsider” in 1720s London.
Background: Weaver is a Portuguese Jew, a former prizefighter) and a “thief-taker”—a precursor to the modern private detective who operates within London’s criminal underbelly. [See also the article by Karen Macfarlane in the UK non-fiction section immediately following.]
Crime and Finance: Liss uses Weaver to bridge the gap between “low” crime (thievery, violence) and “high” crime (stock manipulation, fraud). The novels often revolve around real historical events, such as the South Sea Bubble.
Jewish Identity: Being Jewish is central to Weaver’s character. His environment often views him with suspicion or outright antisemitism. Liss depicts how Jewish characters were frequently scapegoated for financial crimes or marginalized even when they were the victims.
Liss continues to examine the Jewish experience in historical crime contexts:
The Day of Atonement: Set in 18th-century Lisbon, this novel follows Weaver seeking revenge against the Inquisition. It explores the “crime” of being a secret Jew (Crypto-Jew) and the moral complexities of vigilante justice.
The Coffee Trader: Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, it focuses on a Jewish merchant navigating the cutthroat world of the early commodities market, where the line between savvy business and criminal conspiracy is thin. [Google/AI]
Liss, David [Benjamin Weaver #2], (A Spectacle of Corruption [hc, Random House, 2004]) 978-0375508554 [pb, Random House, 2004] 978-0375760891 – The sequel involving political corruption and election fraud.
Liss, David [Benjamin Weaver #3], (The Devil’s Company [hc, Random House, 2009] 978-1400064199 [pb, Random House, 2010] 978-0812974522 – Focuses on Weaver’s infiltration of the British East India Company.
Liss, David [Benjamin Weaver #4], (The Day of Atonement [hc, Random House, 2014] 978-1400068975 [pb, Random House, 2015] 978-0345520197 – Follows Weaver to Lisbon for a tale of revenge against the Inquisition.
Standalone Novels
Liss, David, (The Coffee Trader [hc, Random House, 2003] 978-0375508547 [pb, Random House, 2004] 978-0375760907 – Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, focusing on the early coffee trade and commodities markets.
Liss, David, (The Ethical Assassin [hc, Ballantine Books, 2006] 978-1400064212 [pb, Random House, 2007] 978-0812974546 – A departure from his usual historical settings, this is a modern-day thriller set in Florida.
Liss, David, (The Whiskey Rebels [hc, Random House, 2008] 978-1400064205 [pb, Random House, 2009] 978-0812974539– A thriller set in the early post-Revolutionary United States, involving the Whiskey Rebellion.