MYSTERY

Silent Court

by M.J. Trow
Crème de la Crime: Severn House. 2012. c.220p. ISBN 9781780290195. $28.95. M
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Young scholar and spy Christopher "Kit" Marlow again finds himself in the thick of Elizabethan intrigue when he's called to action by the queen's head spy, Francis Walsingham. Joining a troupe of travelling entertainers known as the Egyptians, Kit heads to the Netherlands where an isolated ally, William the Silent, desperately needs assistance. The trip does not go smoothly, though: a stop at the home of the queen's magus, Dr. John Dee, turns tragic when Dee's wife is murdered. Within this troupe of soothsayers and magicians, Kit remains guarded, fully aware that a variety of nationalist sympathies and motives are concealed behind the entertainers' faux identities. Never losing sight of his loyalty to the queen, Kit smokes out the traitors.
VERDICT Once again Trow (Dark Entry) excels at bringing Elizabethan history to life in this dashing tale of deception. The author is also a military historian and a Marlowe expert. I like pairing with Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde series (his Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders is reviewed in the series lineup above) for tone and glimpses into the workings of society. [See Prepub Alert, 11/11/11.]
Reviewed by Teresa L. Jacobsen , May 01, 2012
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