Review 440: Treachery

Treachery by S.J. Parris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In August 1585 Sir Francis Drake and his fleet is about to embark to the New World to strike a blow against Spain. In the days before they leave a man is found dead in his cabin. It appears to be suicide on the surface but Drake is suspicious that instead there is a murderer aboard his ship.

Before setting sail he wants this resolved. Luckily for him Giordano Bruno has accompanied Sir Philip Sidney to Plymouth in order to escort a diplomat back to London. While in Plymouth Bruno undertakes the task to discover who was the killer. Soon enough he discovers several suspects with motive.

One strong motive involved an old book, a lost gospel. This brought in a bookseller with a vengeance against Bruno. The bookseller is partnered with a man who wants revenge against Drake and several others from a previous voyage who killed his brother.

This is a fourth book in a series, I had not read the previous three. While it did not hurt the understanding of the story line, early there are relationships with some characters that happened in previous books.

I did enjoy the book being in the first person point of view, and the historical setting felt accurate. Liked this book enough that I may look for another in the series.