There are seven books so far in this historical series that takes place in Elizabethan England.
The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez, the first book in the series, deals with Christoval's inadvertent involvement in the Babington Plot.
Brief description: It is the year 1586. England is awash with traitors, plotting to assassinate the Queen and bring about a foreign invasion. The young physician Christoval Alvarez, a refugee from the horrors of the Portuguese Inquisition, is coerced into becoming a code-breaker and spy in Sir Francis Walsingham’s espionage service. In the race to thwart the plot, who will triumph – the ruthless conspirators or the equally ruthless State?
Many famous characters make an appearance: Sir Francis Walsingham, the Queen's Spymaster; Anthony Babington, known for the plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth and put the Scottish Queen Mary on the throne of England; Thomas Phelippes, cryptographer and intelligencer for Walsingham; and Arthur Gregory, who created and repaired seals for intercepted letters. Lesser know names are those of Robert Poley, John Ballard, and Chidiock Tichborne.
(Chidiock Tichborne, one of the conspirators, is only alluded to in the novel. The reason I'm mentioning him is because of his elegy which I read many years ago and which represents a sad comment on political gambits in the 16th c. He was only twenty-three at the time he wrote that sad little poem and was shortly thereafter executed.)
I sped through this series in late August, reading one right after the other, and becoming more intrigued with each one. Christoval, more often known as Kit, has a wide variety of friends, both high and low. The historical events and characters are well-researched, and both the historical and fictional characters have richness and depth.
Although I enjoyed the first book, it is not the best in the series--each book gained in verisimilitude making me feel I was a part of Kit's world.
The reviews below are brief and deal only with the historical events that our character lives through and the Elizabethan world to which she belongs--because in addition to being Portugese and Jewish, Kit is a girl disguised as a boy. In the first book, she is only 16, but Kit grows up during the last of Elizabeth's reign. The historical events are compelling, but even more fascinating are Kit's personal friends and adventures.
Book 2
The Enterprise of England finds Kit, still guarding her secret, on a mission to the Netherlands. The novel also covers the Spanish Armada and the attempted invasion of England. Sir Francis Drake does not come off well, which is historically accurate, but often forgotten.
Book 3
The Portugese Affair is a sad and tawdry account of the English Expedition, an attempt to drive the Spanish out of Portugal and place Dom Antonio of Aviz on the throne. Sir Francis Drake once again proves that his own arrogance and greed are paramount.
Book 4
Bartholomew Fair covers the event in 1589 when the soldiers from the English Expedition, who were dismissed without pay, attempt to get recompense, but there is also a more secretive plot in play.
Book 5
In Suffer the Little Children, the author makes clear the fate of street children and orphans in 16th c. London. Sir Francis Walsingham is dying, and there is another plot against Queen Elizabeth.
Book 6
Voyage to Muscovy has Kit on a secret mission to Russia in an effort to find a missing agent. The historical details of Russia at this time and of actual historical characters are fascinating.
Book 7
The Play's the Thing deals with Kit's return from Muscovy and her post at St. Thomas' Hospital has been given to another. Kit takes work as a copyist with Jame Burbage's company, but plays of both Will Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe go missing.
Such brief descriptions of such engrossing novels! If you enjoy historical fiction and characters that grow and transform throughout a series, you might want to give The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez a try.
The Tudor Vendetta
I love historical mysteries. Of course, I love mysteries of any kind, but historical mysteries offer a glimpse (a fictional and not always factual glimpse) into different time periods, and I've always loved history. C. W. Gortner has written a series of three books called The Spymaster Chronicles about the Tudor/Elizabethan period, but this is the first that I've read.
Although this is the third book in the series, Gortner easily and efficiently gives the reader enough back information to feel up to date without it seeming like a review of the previous books. Of course, characters like Elizabeth, Dudley, Cecil, and Walsingham require little or no information as to who they are, but Gortner manages to smoothly slip in plenty of motivation for each of these historic characters.
Brendan Prescott was raised in the Dudley household, an orphan who was often mistreated and who has a long and troubled history with Elizabeth's favorite. Prescott is, however, a queen's man who has been protected by Cecil and trained by Walsingham, Elizabeth's spymaster. Aside from his determined loyalty to Elizabeth, Prescott has a connection to Elizabeth of which only Cecil and Walsingham are aware.
Prescott's service to his queen resulted in a hasty exile during Mary's reign, but upon Mary's death, he is summoned home. Elizabeth has an assignment for him. Even before she can talk to him privately and tell him what she wants him to do, there is an attempt on her life. Even before her coronation, she is besieged with courtiers and sycophants who want something, receiving marriage proposals, and aware that bitter Catholics want her dead and her cousin on the throne. And there are messages that need to be deciphered and secrets that need to be kept.
Elizabeth sends Prescott to find out what happened to Lady Parry, who has been Elizabeth's staunch supporter and companion since Elizabeth was a child. Lady Parry has disappeared, and Prescott must find her. Prescott knows there is more to the situation, but Elizabeth never reveals everything; she has too much experience to trust too much information to anyone.
I found this an exciting Elizabethan mystery: style, plot, and characters make a great mix.
Read in Sept.; blog post scheduled for Oct. 1, 2014.
NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Elizabethan Mystery. Oct. 21, 2014. Print length: 304 pages.
A Famine of Horses
I've read one other book in Chisholm's Sir Robert Carey series (An Air of Treason), but A Famine of Horses is the first in the series and very, very good.
A Famine of Horses is a fast-paced tale full of historical detail with many of the characters taken from real life, both the good guys and the bad guys. On Sir Robert Carey's arrival as Deputy Warden of the West March, he is faced with a murder to investigate. He must discover the guilty person quickly to avoid further bloodshed. Another mystery pertains to the shortage of horses; horses are being stolen at an alarming rate, and what, wonders Carey, is the purpose.
I loved Carey's character, but the other characters were well-drawn with distinct personalities, as well. (oh, and names: the murdered young man is Sweetmilk Graham, Carey's sister's name is Philadelphia, and then there is Red Sandy Dodd, and Bessie's Andrew, and Bangtail Graham, etc.)
In An Air of Treason, I was quite fond of Sergeant Dodd, and it was fun to see the beginning of the relationship and get know his wife, a great character in her own right.
This was a Kindle read for 99 cents! How I love a bargain that turns out to be a so rewarding; I look forward to the next in the series.
Background on Sir Robert Carey--
The real Robert Carey was the son of Lord Hunsdon, Henry VIII's illegitimate son by Mary Boleyn. Lord Hunsdon was also Queen Elizabeth's Lord Chamberlain (and half-brother) and patron to Shakespeare. Obviously, Robert Carey had some interesting DNA to draw from, and he had an interesting life as a dandified courtier in Elizabeth's court. Then, for whatever reason, he decided to switch to soldiering, and he accepted the position of Deputy Warden of the English West March. Quite a switch, that. From courtier to sheriff/marshall of the wildest part of the kingdom in the West March where murders, horse thieves, and outlaws abounded.
Evidently a charming and cheerful man, his memoirs are lively and entertaining, and Chisholm says that she lifted him "practically undiluted from his own writings."
Information about the West Marches can be found here.
P.F. Chisholm is a pseudonym of a well-known writer of historical thrillers, childrens’ books, and nonfiction blogs and ebooks. Previous titles in the Sir Robert Carey and Sergeant Dodd series are A Famine of Horses, A Season of Knives, A Surfeit of Guns, A Plague of Angels, and A Murder of Crows. After the events in An Air of Treason, Sir Robert and Sergeant Dodd will be heading back to the Anglo- Scottish Border where trouble is brewing as usual. (from Poisoned Pen Press)
Read in March.
Elizabethan mystery. 1999/2012. Print version: 288 pages.
