R E K. (bigstone) - , reviewed on 7/2/2022 + 1453 more book reviews

In the year 1583 Jupiter and Saturn align, a phenomenon that happens every thousand years. Many people in England saw it as a sign of one age ending and the beginning of another. Some believed that it foretold the death of Queen Elizabeth and a possibility that her cousin, Mary, would assume the throne. This would mean that Catholicism would probably replace the Protestant faith. And, people remember the terror, blood and deaths that followed a previous reign of Catholicism.

When one of the queen's maids of honor is murdered with an astrological sign carved on her body such beliefs are enforced. And the death of a second, a good friend of the first, dies, she, too, has an astrological sign carving. A third death of a young messenger links to the first two. Erasms Giordiano, who has fled to England after abandoning his monkish vows, finds himself caught up in investigating the deaths. As his search unfolds he finds himself targeted. Employed by Frances Walsingham, he must get to the bottom of it all before he, too, is killed.

This story is well written, the plot convoluted and complex and the characters assume so much life that this reader felt involved in life of this tumultuos time. Suspect after suspect is eliminated and several plots by individuals who seek to assume one throne or another on the continent uncovered until the climax. It's a most interesting read with a fascinating key character.

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