Book Review – Death by Disputation by Anna Castle

Death by Disputation
Anna Castle
File Size: 1812 KB
Print Length: 366 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0991602544
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00RC56VCW

 

Short Synopsis: Thomas Clarady is recruited to spy on a group of radical Puritans at Cambridge University. Francis Bacon is his spymaster; his tutor in both trade craft and religious politics. Their commission gets off to a deadly start when Tom finds his chief informant hanging from the roof beams. Now he must catch a murderer as well as a seditioner. His first suspect is volatile poet Christopher Marlowe, who keeps turning up in the wrong places.  Dogged by unreliable assistants, chased by three lusty women, and harangued daily by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his very soul to catch the villains and win his reward.

Review: That brief synopsis hardly does justice to a story that is so immersed in time and place that the reader can forget the 21st century for a little while. It is apparent that the author has done her research, down to the last detail of dress, furnishings, speech patterns and more, and the book transports the reader to Elizabethan times.

One of the things I found particularly interesting was the romantic sub-plot from the POV of a male character. The way Tom got himself tangled, then untangled, with two women to set his heart on a third was quite fun, and I’m sure the way the relationships were handled was very indicative of that time in history.

While much of the story is character-driven the plot line always connected back to the mystery at all the right places. I will admit that I figured out who the killer might be early on, but then author would throw suspicion on someone else, and that would give me pause, which is part of the fun of reading a mystery.

I highly recommend this story that is filled with great historical events and the most fascinating characters, especially Tom and Trumpet. Be ready for a surprise.

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Anna will be my Wednesday’s Guest this week, so do come back. She has a new book out – Black and White and Dead all Over –  and will be blogging about some interesting Texas names. Quite a switch from the Elizabethan Era, but we writers can be flexible. And time travel, too. LOL In the meantime, you can meet Anna on her WEBSITE