Treachery by S J Parris

The good thing about historical novels, especially period mysteries like this one, is that you learn a bit of history while you're immersed in a rip-roaring yarn. The bad thing is that a quick dip into Wikipedia, or something more erudite if you prefer, will remind you that your historical hero or heroine can't keep all this sleuthing up for ever as there are well-documented events in the pipeline that can't be ignored. And I know all to well what happens to Giordano Bruno and his pal Sir Philip Sidney, and this makes my enjoyment of S J Parris's superb series all the more bitter-sweet.
    In Treachery, Bruno and Sir Philip are sent to Plymouth to reconnoitre with Sir Francis Drake (and we know all about him too!) to collect a Portuguese ally of Queen Elizabeth's - Dom Antonio, who has been on the run from Philip of Spain. Drake is all set to launch a fleet against the Spanish who have been capturing British ships and Sidney hopes to join in the fun and collect a fortune in prize money. He has brought Bruno along as Drake has requested help with a matter requiring scholarly input.
    But all these enterprises are put on hold when a murder takes place on Drake's ship, the Elizabeth Bonaventure. Made to look like a suicide, the death of Robert Dunne - a gentleman who has joined the fleet to recover losses sustained at the card tables - soon throws up a number of suspects, and a load of red herrings. Was one of Dunne's creditors driven to murder him? There is also evidence he could have been involved in blackmail, while his widow scarcely sheds a tear - could she have paid for an assassin?
   Jenkes, a book dealer and enemy Bruno first encountered in Oxford, appears on the scene and it's no coincidence that Drake has in his possession a Coptic text that could be a lost gospel, the very text he wants Bruno to decipher. There are enemies out to get Drake too, some eager for revenge and others for the generous reward on offer from Philip of Spain for Drake's death. All this is complicated by the arrival of Drake's young wife and her widowed cousin who Sir Philip is sent to entertain in his courtly way, while Drake deals with more serious matters. There are more characters than you can shake a stick at and some less than salubrious settings, including the House of Vesta, a brothel with a name for providing discretion and very young girls.
    Of course there is danger at every turn for Bruno who has a talent for breaking and entering and narrow escapes. Thank goodness he can handle a knife. While it is Sir Philip who dreams of action, it is always Bruno who turns up with broken ribs, cuts and bruises. He's a lot more than a gallant hero though and his knack with memory and solving problems are balanced by a philosophical turn of mind which seeks to understand the motives of his opponents while showing empathy for their victims.
    Treachery is one of those books that has you sitting up into the small hours or longing for the odd spare moment when you can pick it up again. The plotting is first class, as is the writing which is immediate yet descriptive enough to plunge you into Elizabethan England. This is another credit to an author who has made a brilliant character from a fascinating historical figure and I truly hope this isn't the last we'll see of Bruno.

Sacrilege by S J Parris

Giordano Bruno was an astronomer, philosopher and mathematician who was burned at the stake for heresy in Rome in 1600. His statue stands on the site of his death in the Campo de' Fiori and he is often seen as a martyr for free thinking and modern scientific ideas.
    Bruno is also the main character in a series of mystery novels set in Elizabethan England by S J Parris. Believe it or not, among the other strings to Bruno's bow is a possible stint as one of Sir Francis Walsingham's spies during his time in England where he worked with the French ambassador.
    As you can tell Bruno got around. You can read about why he left Italy as a young man in Heresy, the first book in the series. This book starts off with Bruno's escape from a monastery as a young monk, threatened with death because of his heretical reading matter. It is a really exciting beginning, and having read all three books in the series so far, I can say that the excitement never for a moment lets up.
    In Sacrilege, Bruno's third outing, he is called upon to help clear the name of Sophia, the daughter of a Cambridge professor who we also met in Heresy. Sophia disgraced her family and was packed off to Canterbury to be wed to a complete nasty by the name of Sir Edward Kingsley, a wealthy landowner over twenty years her senior. When Kinglsey turns up dead near the cathedral with his head stoved in, Sophia becomes suspect number one and flees to London with the help of some friendly Huguenots.
    Here she catches up with her old admirer, Bruno. It is midsummer and because of the threat of plague, people are leaving London in droves. Dressed as a boy, Sophia accompanies Bruno to Canterbury, where he is sequestered with another of Walsingham's spies, Doctor Harry Robinson. In spite of being somewhat elderly, Harry keeps an eye on the clerics at the cathedral who, among others, might wish to use the cult of Saint Thomas Beckett, slain around four hundred years before, as a means to reignite Catholicism and a rebellion against the Queen. Included on his watch-list is the chillingly austere Canon Langworth, who instantly seems to be suspicious of Bruno.
    Langworth is a powerful man, but that doesn't stop Bruno from doing some serious breaking and entering, thieving of documents and duplicating of keys in his efforts to uncover a sinister plot. The local law enforcers seem to be in Langworth's pay and eagerly snaffle any old vagrant or foreigner for whatever crimes happen around town. In no time Bruno is fingered for at least one of them, which is hardly surprising really. He's such a master snooper and with his head turned by Sophia, he is somewhat hot-headed and vulnerable.
    Meanwhile the infernal heat of midsummer drives everyone crazy and Parris's writing is so vivid you can just about smell the body odours of folk living closely together and not blessed with hot and cold running water. The bustling market of the town, the awe-inspiring cathedral and its cavernous crypt are all recreated for the reader but not in such a away as to detract from the action which rattles along towards the requisite surprise ending that we expect from all the best whodunits. It's an altogether brilliant series and I am pleased to note that the next book, Treachery, is due out very soon.