The Rebel’s Mark (The Jackdaw Mysteries, 5)
Set in 1598 in Elizabethan London and Ireland, The Rebel’s Mark opens on a ship carrying a Spanish grandee, his soon-to-be-married daughter, and their maid to Ireland across a stormy sea. The next scene is in London, where the novel’s protagonist, Doctor Nicholas Shelby, and his wife, Bianca, are attending a poetry reading in the presence of Shelby’s most important patient, Queen Elizabeth.
Nicholas is not only a physician to the queen but is also caught up in politics as a spy. He is sent to Ireland to meet with Edmund Spenser, one of Secretary of State Robert Cecil’s informants. Here Nicholas and Bianca become caught up in a war between the English and the Irish. Shelby discovers a fraud that stretches from Ireland all the way to London. Bianca befriends the daughter and maid of the Spanish emissary, in a second strand to the plot.
The story is engaging, with many plot twists and fascinating minor characters. A constant danger hangs over Nicholas and his wife. Both are sympathetic and complex, and their love story provides a strong counterpoint to the violence and treachery in the novel.
Bianca is a herbalist, and it is fascinating to read about the medicines she makes, with ‘wild campion, agrimony and fluellin.’ It is pleasing to read about such a strong female character. Nicholas and Bianca as a couple provide the reader with plenty of examples of their everyday lives in Elizabethan England. An enjoyable read.
