Book Review – The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth

About the Book

Venice, 1585. William Shakespeare is disguised as a steward to the English Ambassador. He and his friends Oldcastle and Hemminges possess a deadly secret: the names of the Catholic spies in England who seek to destroy Queen Elizabeth. Before long the Pope’s agents will begin to close in and fleeing the city will be the players’ only option.

In Verona, Aemelia, the daughter of a Duke, is struggling to conceal her passionate affair with her cousin Valentine. But darker times lie ahead with the arrival of the sinister Father Thornhill, determined to seek out any who don’t conform to the Pope’s ruthless agenda . . .

Events will converge in the forests of Verona as a multitude of plots are hatched and discovered, players fall in and out of love, and disguises are adopted and then discarded. Can Shakespeare and his friends escape with their secrets – and their lives?

Format: Hardcover (384 pages) Publisher: Zaffre
Publication date: 21st September 2017 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Assassin of Verona is the second book in the author’s historical thriller series featuring William Shakespeare, now cast as spy as well as playwright. I haven’t read the first book, The Spy of Venice, and I felt I missed out by not knowing what happened in that book, such as how William came to be recruited into the role of spy, how his friendship with Oldcastle and Hemminges came about, and the origins of his relationship with beautiful courtesan, Isabella. The reader is rather plunged straight into the story without much recap of previous events.

The author is clearly an aficionado of Shakespeare and makes liberal use of quotations from his plays throughout the book, not just in the dialogue. The prose is not exactly Shakespearean in style but tending that way. Many of the characters’ names are drawn from Shakespeare’s plays, including Orlando (As You Like It), Prospero (The Tempest), Aemilia (The Comedy of Errors) and Valentine (The Two Gentleman of Verona). Much of the action takes place in a forest, a familiar setting of Shakespeare’s plays, and some of the characters are in disguise, including posing as the opposite sex.

I didn’t find William a particularly likeable character. He’s plunged into melancholy by events in Venice pretty early on and seems to find it difficult to shake it off, leaving his two friends in a bit of a bind. Oldcastle is an engaging character, full of bluster and supremely confident he can play whatever part is needed, leading to some humorous scenes when his bluff is called. Hemminges is the man of action, a skilled tactician and handy in a swordfight. He finds himself drawn to Aemilia, admiring her pluck even if it does land a lot of people in trouble. Although there are villains, including the fanatical Father Thornhill who likes nothing better than torturing information out of people, the plot is for the most part quite lighthearted. That is until the end when it gets much darker and for some it’s definitely not ‘all’s well that ends well’.

The Assassin of Verona is an engaging historical mystery, peppered with Shakespearean allusions, albeit a bit on the slow side.

In three words: Entertaining, witty, lively
Try something similar: Martyr (John Shakespeare #1) by Rory Clements

About the Author

Benet Brandreth is a highly regarded Intellectual Property barrister, rhetoric coach and authority on Shakespeare, working regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Donmar and others on Shakespeare’s use of language. He has also written and performed for radio and the stage – his one-man show, ‘The Brandreth Papers’, was a five-star reviewed sell-out at the Edinburgh Festival and on the London transfer. He is qualified as an instructor in the Filipino Martial Arts and as a stage combat choreographer. He lives in London with his wife and two sons and is exhausted from all his efforts at becoming a Renaissance Man.

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