While William Shakespeare is touring through the countryside, his older brother John is retained by Walsingham to help uncover Queen Elizabeth I's distant cousin's murderer, while having to keep Francis Drake from being assassinated by the Spanish who managed to successfully infiltrate England. The elder Shakespeare has to do all this under the ever watch and sadistic eye of Topcliffe, another Royal investigator.
This mystery series has wonderful potential. However, I have a strong reservation and that is when the 'investigator' or 'intelligencer' lacks common sense. Sharing information with people who have no business knowing what is being investigated, and not doing researching about a particular person or location before going seems rather counter-intuitive, not to mention just plain idiotic. I understand that characters must have flaws, but when there are more failings than there are successes, I do not expect the protagonist to achieve much. There is only so much 'dumb-luck' I'm willing to accept before I lose faith in the author. I suspect my expectations are high as the more successful: Christie, Conan-Doyle and Sayers are smarter than their detectives. Too often now, the author seems to fall behind their own characters, and need to insert inexplicable defects that lead to unbelievable leaps. Unfortunately, Martyr's author is guilty of this.
Though I have an issue with unbalanced character, the story itself weaves seemingly unrelated events and characters in a way that keeps the reader guessing. While many might find this multiple approach to an end taxing, I appreciate that it stimulates my grey matter.
Review originally appeared in the now defunct Paternoster Row Legacy
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