Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray’s Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon’s powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend … contend for the murdered man’s legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.
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It took a long time to get to the interesting action.
Memorable characters interwoven in an historical setting. Excelling pacing and dialogue.
Love the era and historical figures. Very original and not an easy topic to make realistic but it was.
Dragged on, wandered off plan, not page turner for sure.
well written, witty, vocabulary builder, learned a lot about Elizabethan England while enjoying the mystery. fun to look up some of the middle English words and their origins. looking forward to reading more books in the series.
Very interesting and fun
a fun read with cgood characters and plot. I look forward to reading more og her well researched work.
I wasn’t sure I would like this since it’s fiction but revolves around an historical figure. But, I did like it and enjoyed reading a great story with good grammar. It is a well-spun tale.
Enjoyed this book for its historical details on how my predecessors may have lived in England in the 1500s, ordinary people living ordinary lives without benefit of modern technology but ingenious just the same.
Had a hard time getting through this book. The words and terms used were not something used today. Very “OLD” English from the 16th century. The story was difficult to follow because I did not understand half the words.
Excellent series and learned a lot from it
I love historical fiction and murder mysteries! This book was very entertaining, bringing the two genres together. Enjoyable characters with some unpredictable twists!
Told from a different perspective
Couldn’t get into it, didn’t like it
Only read chapter 1. Found this story boring and disappointing.
What can you say about a book that has Francis Bacon as the main character? Funny, clever with interesting insights into the period. Very enjoyable read. Looking forward to others by this author.
too slow to spark interest……completed reading chapter six before interested in finishing liked the tudor character…..some surprises/unique plot
Interesting use of Elizabethan wordage.
the best sort of historical fiction–well written,creating a feel of being in the time period without the reader being talked down to to show how clever the writer is. I look forward to reading other in this series!
interesting, unpredictable, somewhat heavy written since it’s supposed to be a ‘period’ action book. Worth reading it