The Spy of Venice by Benet Brandreth

The Spy of Venice: A William Shakespeare Novel by Benet  Brandreth --- 434 pages including maps, Dramatis Personae, Scenes, A Note to the Reader, Historical Note and Acknowledgements.

Google Summary:

August, 1585. England needs its greatest hero to step forward . . .

When he is caught by his wife in one ill-advised seduction too many, young William Shakespeare flees Stratford to seek his fortune. Cast adrift in London, Will falls in with a band of players, but greater men have their eye on this talented young wordsmith. England's very survival hangs in the balance and Will finds himself dispatched to Venice on a crucial assignment.

Dazzled by the city's masques and its beauties, he little realizes the peril in which he finds himself. Catholic assassins would stop at nothing to end his mission on the point of their sharpened knives--and lurking in the shadows is a killer as clever as he is cruel.

Suspenseful, seductive, and as sharp as an assassin's blade, The Spy of Venice introduces a major new literary talent to the genre--thrilling if you've never read a word of Shakespeare and sublime if you have.

*****

This book is the first in a projected series that will imagine how a ne'er-do-well glover's son from Stratford-on-Avon transformed himself into one of the most celebrated poets and playwrights in the world, by suggesting a series of adventures in Italy taking place during the "lost years" of 1585-1592.

The second book in the series, The Assassin of Verona, is due out in 2019.

Click HERE to read the * review from Publisher's Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Journal of Books.

Click HERE to read the review from Open Letters Review.com

Click HERE to read the review from the Historical Novel Society.org.

The Vanishing Man by Charles Finch

The Vanishing Man: A Charles Lenox Mystery by Charles Finch --- 288 pages including Acknowledgements.

The Vanishing Man is the twelfth book in the Charles Lenox mystery series by Charles Finch; by chronology it is the second book in the trilogy of prequels that Finch is now writing about the early career of his Victorian era sleuth, following after The Woman in the Water, and predating the first book in the original series, A Beautiful Blue Death.

The Vanishing Man finds our hero determined to follow his instinct for detection and continuing his investigative education despite the antagonism of Scotland Yard and the social disapproval of his peers. Lenox would forfeit his status as a gentleman if he "went into trade" (in other words, was paid for his work) so he makes a point of offering his services gratis.

The Duke of Dorset, the third most powerful nobleman in England, reluctantly turns to Lenox for assistance when a painting of his great-grandfather, the 13th Duke, is taken from his private study. The matter is too delicate to confide to the police. The Duke insists on absolute discretion; he's not interested in recovering the picture, he just wants to know who took it. Unfortunately, another theft results in the death of the Duke's valet; and when the Duke is arrested on suspicion of murder, resulting in the very scandal he was trying to avoid.

After much ado, Finch finally gets the truth out of him: Dorset is convinced that the thief is after a much bigger prize: the hidden clue to the whereabouts of a hitherto "lost" play by William Shakespeare. The Dorset family has kept knowledge of this play secret for generations as they tried to unravel the mystery.

Unfortunately, the Dorsets have never been able to solve the riddle. Can Lenox recover the lost painting, find the elusive hidden clue, and solve the riddle?

Among other things, Finch presents a scathing look at how rigid Victorian class and gender structures perverted justice and warped lives.

Click HERE for a Q&A with the author from Criminal Element.com.

Click HERE for the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE for the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE for a review from the Washington Post.

Click HERE for a review from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.