Giordano Bruno: Heretic. On the run from the Inquisition. Italian and thusly doubly suspicious in defensive and conspiracy ridden England in the age of Elizabeth. After all, he must be a papist, despite his excommunication. And, well, he agrees with that Pole Copernicus and consorts with the likes of John Dee, so he’s a magician too. Oh, and he’s in search of the mysterious lost book of Hermes Trismegistus.
What the majority of people don’t know, is Bruno is also an agent for Sir Francis Walsingham, Principal Secretary to Elizabeth 1. And the go to guy when someone is found murdered. He’s also Walsingham’s spy inside the French Embassy, since he’s staying there because his patron, King Henri of France has given him asylum from Rome.
At the moment though, Bruno wants to go travel to Canterbury. He’s been asked by a young woman he knows for help. Her husband has been murdered, and she had met Bruno in Oxford, so she begs him to clear her name and find the real killer.
What Bruno doesn’t know yet, is that this seemingly simple murder investigation will lead to yet more Catholic conspiracies to oust Elizabeth and place Mary on the throne, bringing England back into the Catholic fold.
Wonderful characterizations, complex and realistically drawn settings, bring the world of the 1580s to life. The mystery itself is intriguing and multilayered. Several times I thought for sure I’d figured it out. I was wrong!
If you love historical fiction that can seem to put you there, you’ll love the Giordano Bruno series. And the series only gets better.
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