Blog Tour/Book Review: The Serpent’s Mark by S.W. Perry

I’m delighted to be closing out the blog tour for The Serpent’s Mark by S.W. Perry, the second in the author’s historical mystery series featuring physician, Nicholas Shelby, and tavern owner, Bianca Merton.  My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Corvus and Readers First for my review copy.

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About the Book

Treason sleeps for no man…

London, 1591. Nicholas Shelby, physician and reluctant spy, returns to his old haunts on London’s lawless Bankside. But, when the queen’s spymaster Robert Cecil asks him to investigate the dubious practices of a mysterious doctor from Switzerland, Nicholas is soon embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not just the life of an innocent young patient, but the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth herself.

With fellow healer and mistress of the Jackdaw tavern, Bianca Merton, again at his side, Nicholas is drawn into a dangerous world of zealots, charlatans and fanatics. As their own lives become increasingly at risk, they find themselves confronting the greatest treason of all: the spectre of a bloody war between the faiths…

Format: Hardcover (432 pp.)    Publisher: Corvus
Published: 6^th June 2019    Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk  ǀ  Amazon.com  ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Serpent’s Mark by S.W. Perry on Goodreads

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My Review

It was a real pleasure to be reunited with Nicholas and Bianca whom readers were introduced to in the first book in the series, The Angel’s Mark (which I thoroughly enjoyed). Although there are references to events in the earlier book, The Serpent’s Mark works perfectly as a standalone although I would personally recommend reading the series from the beginning.

Like the first book, The Serpent’s Mark features both imagined and real characters from the Elizabethan period, amongst the latter being a famous playwright. And, as before, it’s set in that febrile period towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth I when plots abounded amid concerns over the succession and the risk of invasion, as well as fervent disputes over religious dogma.

The author conjures up the London of the period in lively and colourful passages, such as this description of those plying their trade to citizens of Southwark celebrating the end of Lent. ‘Waiting for them are the fakers, the dancers, the tumblers, the swordsman, the dice-kings, the card-sharps, the whole purse-diving, eye-for-an-opportunity crew. Fire-jugglers light their way. Street musicians serenaded them with sackbut and tambour.’

Nicholas and Bianca combined are a force to be reckoned with, which is just as well because they soon find themselves by different routes uncovering what looks like a conspiracy with potentially far-reaching consequences. Once more, they find themselves battling the madness and cruelty of zealots who will stop at nothing to achieve their objectives whether out of ‘twisted piety’, ‘monstrous ambition’ or unquenchable passion. Bianca and Nicholas also find themselves pondering the future direction of their own relationship. If it has a future, that is, given the ghosts of the past that haunt at least one of them.

From the moment a gruesome discovery is made in the opening chapter I was well and truly hooked and the twists and turns of the plot with its intriguing premise kept me turning the pages right to the dramatic events of the final chapters. If you love historical crime mysteries by the likes of C J Sansom, S J Parris or Rory Clements, then this is a series I can highly recommend.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Corvus, and Readers First.

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In three words: Gripping, intriguing, mystery

Try something similar…The Secret of Vesalius by Jordi Llobregat (read my review here)

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About the Author

S.W. Perry was a journalist and broadcaster before retraining as an airline pilot. He lives in Worcestershire with his wife.

Connect with S.W. Perry

Twitter  ǀ  Goodreads