Historical Fiction

I'm no expert on crime thrillers, or historical fiction either. I am a fan of Bruno and early modern Europe. This book is a grand fun way to bask in the flavor of those days. Parris does a really nice job of crafting a crime story that fits in nicely with Bruno's situation. It's a real page turner - I read it in two days. I've read the previous books in the series. There are many references back to the earlier books. The plot itself is really independent of those previous books, but I think this'd be a less fun read not to have read those. ( )

Elizabethan conundrums!

Caught up with intrigue, the Spanish question, the French and English monarchs, and his own troubles Italian "defrocked monk, excommunicated for heresy," and now spy, Giordano Bruno accompanies his friend Sir Philip Sidney, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth's to Plymouth where Sir Francis Drake's fleet is readying to set sail for the Spanish Main. It's 1585 and Drake is on the eve of departure. Ostensibly Sir Philip is to escort Dom Antonio, the pretender to the Portuguese throne, back to Elizabeth's court. In reality Sir Philip has decided to go against the Queen's wishes and join Drake on his great adventure.
That great voyage though has been brought to a halt. A man, "Master Robert Dunne, a gentleman of Devon," has apparently suicided on Drake's galleon. On closer inspection it appears that the suicide is actually a murder. A lose-lose situation for Drake. Sailors being a superstitious group will see the voyage as cursed before its begun, murder though will have men on a long voyage even more skittish, either decamping now or turning on each other on the endless voyage. Drake cannot afford to have his quandary bruited abroad. He cannot sail until the truth is known. And this is where Sir Philip decides to volunteer Bruno's expertise. Until recently Bruno's's been acting as a spy for Walsingham and the Privy Council whilst part of the French Ambassador Châteauneuf's cohort in London. At the moment his future is in doubt. Volunteered by Sir Philip, Bruno finds himself mired in plots and counterplots, including murder and stolen artifacts, not the least of which pertains to a forbidden religious book supposedly written by Judas Iscariot and stolen from the Vatican. Vatican agents will stop at nothing to retrieve this heretical work. Bruno becomes at once exhilarated and dismayed as he pursues his investigations.
The relationship between Philip and Bruno is interesting. Part comradeship, part benefactor, part older brother. I swerve between admiring their relationship and wondering why Bruno doesn't depart Sir Sidney's side.
Parris admirably captures the complexities and fears abroad during these times, painting a colorful picture of Elizabethan life.

A Pegasus Books ARC via NetGalley ( )

The Giodano Bruno series of historical mysteries by S. J. Parris, just gets better and better. I read a lot of historical mysteries, and the genre's greatest weakness is that most authors can either develop characters effectively or design mysteries complex enough to remain mysteries until the novel's end. Parris is one of those rare writers who can offer both simultaneously, which makes her Giordano Bruno series a particular pleasure.

In Treachery, Bruno is headed to Plymouth with Sir Philip Sidney, who has been charged with escorting the deposed Portuguese ruler to London for a meeting with Elizabeth I. Sidney has dreams of joining Sir Frances Drake's fleet, which is moored in Plymouth preparing an attack on Spanish ports where English ships are being held.

Sidney's scheming offers a bit of comic relief to accompany the mystery at the novel's heart. One of Drake's crew members has apparently committed suicide, though Drake suspects murder. Sidney offers Bruno's detecting skills to Drake in hopes of currying favor.

That's the set-up. What is wonderful is that this mystery really is a mystery. Time and again, the mystery seems to have been solved, only to have deeper layers of the puzzle revealed. A reader may make one or two correct guesses while reading, but it's a rare reader who will be able to puzzle out the entire mystery before Bruno does.

Bonus: there's also a Gnostic gospel, purportedly the testament of Judas Iscariot, playing its own role in the complications. What more can a reader of historical mysteries ask for? ( )

Excellent, really enjoying this series ( )