Review: Intelligence Work in Elizabethan England
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 18, 2014
William Shakespeare's brother, John Shakespeare, is an Intelligencer for the Queen,  somewhat like a CIA agent of today.  While trying to find a missing girl as a favor to a condemned priest, he starts to find indications of a plot which could be an assassination attempt against  Queen Elizabeth I, an invasion by Spain, or an attempt to wreck the intelligencer spy system.  His investigations take him to all parts of England to question various religious factions, Catholic, Jesuit, Puritan, etc.  and to the Queen's court itself.The story is certainly interesting as one can garner a good deal of knowledge of Elizabethan times and the religious persecutions and beliefs that were prevalent. I was glad to see that William Shakespeare made a few appearances in this story.  While I didn't think anything about the dialogue between most characters being in modern day vernacular, it seemed a bit strange that William spoke the same rather than using "Didst thou...", Wouldst thine..."  etc.  I guess I am too used to his writings.  I certainly did get involved in the story and near the end found it hard to put down as things really started to get intense. For me it proved to be an educational and enjoyable novel