There have been a lot of historical mystery’s lately, several of them include historical figures as the detective. In Rory Clements novel Martyr, he uses a historical figure’s brother as the main character. John Shakespeare, older brother of William (yes William doesn’t have an older brother in real life, this is a out of wedlock brother by another mother, but that isn’t touched on too much). The book is a well done mystery in an interesting time period. So let’s see what it’s about.
John Shakespeare is a 28 year old single man in 1587 who works for Sir Francis Walsingham, the principle spymaster for Queen Elizabeth. Mary is about to be executed for her crime of being Catholic (and allegedly masterminding three plots against Elizabeth) and there might be yet another naval battle with Spain. But England isn’t worried because they have Sir Francis Drake. Elizabeth is worried about Spain’s reported arming up for an invasion of England, since England doesn’t have the land forces to repel an invasion. She asks Drake for help and he plans to finish building up the fleet and attack the Spanish Armada before they can attack England. But King Philip of Spain has put a bounty on Drake’s head.
John Shakespeare comes in at this point. He is investigating the death of a politically connected family’s daughter that might be tied to a Dutch Assassin that has been sent over to kill Drake. His investigation is hindered by the hostility between Protestants and Catholics (especially when the assassin is a Catholic) as well as the mutual animosity between Shakespeare and Richard Topcliffe (the noted priest hunter and interrogator for the Queen). Along the way, Shakespeare has to bribe, threaten and investigate his way to Drake’s assassin and then he still might not be able to save Drake (who insists on being out in the open to do his duties).
The book is a wonderful mystery with several great characters. John’s younger brother does show up for one memorable scene. Clements has created a great detective and has a nice eye for the historical details. The atmosphere of 1587 England just jumps off the pages with open hostility between Protestants and Catholics playing a major part in the story. Overall its a fun book to read and Clements has two sequels already done. Recommended.