Tag Archives: Sir Francis Walsingham

#BookReview ‘Execution’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Italian heretic and spy Giordano Bruno becomes embroiled in a Catholic plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. Execution by SJ Parris, sixth in the excellent Bruno series, starts fast and doesn’t slow down. SJ ParrisBased on the true Babington Plot of 1586 to assassinate the queen, this is the best so far of this historical mystery series. Well-researched with lots of unexpected twists and turns, London seethes with threat around every corner. Bruno, keen to find patronage again in London after fleeing Paris, finds himself unable to say no to his former boss, Elizabethan spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. He must impersonate a Spanish priest and infiltrate a group of Catholics conspiring with Mary to kill her cousin.
There are secret letters written in code, horrible torture, turncoats, double agents, a brave lady spy and a wonderful boy bodyguard Ben. Bruno the heretic must remember quickly how to say mass and give extreme unction to the dying, get one word wrong and his co-conspirators will suspect he is false. Danger lurks as Bruno goes from the grand houses of the north bank of London to the filth, flesh pots, rowdy playhouses and bear pits of the south bank. Characters reappear from his past, some more welcome than others, while the solemn forger and codebreaker Thomas Phelippes and the publican’s son Ben are fascinating additions.
Parris maintains the tension as Bruno makes errors and escapes by the skin of his teeth, all the time wondering if Walsingham has erred in his character judgement of allies within the plotters. Yes, Bruno sometimes gets it wrong. He is not perfect, he is not a professional spy. He is a philosopher who wants nothing more than to write his books and settle down with the woman he loves. But trouble always seems to find him.
A skilfully-written fictional take on a historical event. Colourful, smelly, foul and vibrant, London deserves a special mention as an additional character in Execution.

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
HERESY #1GIORDANOBRUNO
PROPHECY #2GIORDANOBRUNO
SACRILEGE #3GIORDANOBRUNO
TREACHERY #4GIORDANOBRUNO
CONSPIRACY #5GIORDANOBRUNO
ALCHEMY #7GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘A Rustle of Silk’ by Alys Clare #1GABRIELTAVERNER
‘The Swift and the Harrier’ by Minette Walters
‘The Western Wind’ by Samantha Harvey

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview EXECUTION by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Ru via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Rory Clements

#BookReview ‘Sacrilege’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Everywhere he goes in the England of Queen Elizabeth I, Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno runs into trouble. In Sacrilege, third in this quickly-becoming-addictive series by SJ Parris, Bruno is in Canterbury to help an old friend prove her innocence of murder. And to spy for his master, Sir Francis Walsingham. SJ ParrisWhen the woman he loved in the first book of the series asks for his help, Bruno risks the wrath of Walsingham and heads to Canterbury. Set in turbulent political times, the various historical plots are twisted and complicated. Weary at Bruno’s determination to pursue what he believes is a lost cause, Walsingham charges him with identifying a traitor in the cathedral administration in Canterbury. Parris weaves a fictional plan by Catholics in Britain and France to use the ‘discovered’ bones of Thomas Becket to anoint a new Catholic king when France should invade England. The labyrinthine politics and geography of the inner sanctums of Canterbury cathedral add to the tension. The scenes in the crypt are thrilling as Bruno again and again takes huge risks to discover the truth. When he is charged with murder and a fabricated charge of theft, he realises his contacts at the royal court in London are too far away to help.
Bruno is a foreigner in England, a country where a strange accent and tanned skin make him an instant threat, his guilt automatically assumed. Parris populates her Canterbury with a collection of believable fictional characters, conflicted people who must sometimes take a wrong decision in order to survive or protect a loved one. Throw in an odious servant, a persecuted family of Huguenot weavers, a tremulous canon who has spied for Walsingham but missed some big hints of trouble and an independently-minded young woman not afraid to tell the truth as she sees it.
At times the pace slows to walking speed but turn a page and another chase begins or clue arrives. When the twist arrived at the end I was surprised, then realised I had known all along. Surely a satisfactory conclusion?

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
HERESY #1GIORDANOBRUNO
PROPHECY #2GIORDANOBRUNO
TREACHERY #4GIORDANOBRUNO
CONSPIRACY #5GIORDANOBRUNO
EXECUTION #6GIORDANOBRUNO
ALCHEMY #7GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘The Diabolical Bones’ by Bella Ellis #2BRONTEMYSTERIES
‘Lord John and the Private Matter’ by Diana Gabaldon
‘Or the Bull Kills You’ by Jason Webster #1MAXCAMARA

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview SACRILEGE by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5CC via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Prophecy’ by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt #historical #crime

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Prophecy is the second instalment of the Giordano Bruno books by SJ Parris, based on the real-life Italian philosopher. Parris has taken some of the known facts about the real Bruno and enhanced rumour into fact, making him a spy for Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaker and Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham. SJ Parris The result is a delicious mix of proven historical fact, betrayals, plots and assignations with a healthy dose of invention and a charismatic character to root for. The real Bruno was also a cosmologist, proclaiming that the universe was infinite and that the stars in the sky were suns, like ours, circled by their own planets, and this theme runs throughout the books. To our modern eyes, Bruno appears a scientist; in his time, he was deemed a heretic. In Prophecy, Bruno must play a dangerous game on behalf of Walsingham, living in the house of the French ambassador and party to a plot to put Mary Queen of Scots on the English throne. Always an outsider – Bruno is a religious exile, a renegade monk who escaped his Italian friary in search of sanctuary from the Inquisition – and has learned to be an observer amongst dangerous factions in order to survive. He has also learned to defend himself with his fists.
Queen Elizabeth makes herself vulnerable to influence through her burgeoning interest in prophecies and astrology. When a maid in the queen’s household is found dead, her body branded with astrological signs, fear stalks the streets. Pamphlets about with fantasy and rumour are sold freely. Bruno is charged by Walsingham to identify the murderer. The pace of the story ramps up when Bruno makes a connection with the men plotting in support of the Scottish Queen. As the various parties dance elegantly around each other, stepping into shadows and dissembling in full light, Bruno must unravel true friends from false.
Second in the series, this book moved much quicker for me than the first, Heresy. Key characters are already established as is the historical context, political manipulation and religious conflict [intricate at the best of times]. There are plenty of traitorous suspects, dodgy meeting places, ill-advised assignations and dark alleyways to furnish twists and surprises a plenty.
Prophecy was a 4* read for me. My first love is CJ Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series, but this runs it a close second.

Read my reviews of other books in this series:-
HERESY #1GIORDANOBRUNO
SACRILEGE #3GIORDANOBRUNO
TREACHERY #4GIORDANOBRUNO
CONSPIRACY #5GIORDANOBRUNO
EXECUTION #6GIORDANOBRUNO
ALCHEMY #7GIORDANOBRUNO

If you like this, try:-
‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams
‘The Other Eden’ by Sarah Bryant
‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview PROPHECY by SJ Parris @thestephmerritt https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5ub via @SandraDanby