Synopsis:
May, 1591. When Queen Elizabeth decides to embark on a Royal Progress, visiting some of the grandest homes in England, her new spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, sends Kit Marlowe on ahead, to ensure all goes smoothly. But Marlowe’s reconnaissance mission is dogged by disaster: at Farnham Hall, a body is hurled from the battlements; at Cowdray Castle, a mock tournament ends in near tragedy; at Petworth, a body is discovered in the master bedroom, shot dead.
By the time he reaches Chichester, Marlowe fears the worst. Are the incidents linked? Is there a conspiracy to sabotage the Queen’s Progress? Who is pulling the strings – and why? To uncover the truth, Marlowe must come up with a fiendishly clever plan.
So firstly, the scene for this latest episode in the Kit Marlowe series is real. Elizabeth I did progress through Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire in August and September 1591. As was the custom of the times, the "harbingers" were sent ahead to scout out locations, tighten security, check the accommodation (and kick out the hosting family if necessary), and ensure suitable "entertainments" were arranged. To be selected to be a host to Glorianna was an honour - but there was a downside as well - there was usually great upheaval for the hosts and it was a huge expense for the family - it wasn't funded by the monarch and some families bankrupted themselves!. For example, at Elvetham, such entertainments included: tennis,
an opera and fireworks performed from
the island in the great pond as seen
above.
In this episode, there are rumblings of rebellion - nothing new in Tudor England. The previous decade played witness to a series of plots involving Spain and Mary Queen of Scots. Unfortunately the year prior, Elizabeth lost her spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, and in his stead was Sir Robert Cecil (son of Lord Burghley, Elizabeth's Prime Minister).
So, covertly employed as spies, but overtly as harbinger's of the Queen's progress, Kit Marlowe and Thom Sledd (his faithful stage manager), head out of London for Middleham. A couple of suspicious deaths puts a proverbial spanner in the works - and Kit investigates. Along the way we are introduced to a veritable cast of questionable characters including Nicholas Faunt, another of Walsingham's former spies, and the ever present busy-body and budding playwright, Will Shaxsper.
"... the rat, the cat and Lovel our dog, all rule England under a hog ..."
Well written as always, humourous, subtle, action-aplenty, treason, plots, personal and political jousting. A great story that has a rather good twist at the end.
Further Reading:
Queen and Country: The Significance of Elizabeth 1's Progressin Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire in 1591 - thesis by Caroline Adams
The Portable Queen Elizabeth I and the Politics of Ceremony by Mary Hill Cole
The Mail Online - Was The Virgin Queen An Imposter?
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