Rory Clements had a wonderful debut novel with Martyr(my review) and introduced us to William Shakespeare’s older (and fictional) brother John who was in the spy trade. Clements new novel, Revenger, comes back 5 years later with several things changed, but soon we’re back in the 16th century intrigue. This book has a little more of William and a little less of the Catholic/Protestant power struggle that was going on at the time. So, let’s see what’s intriguing in Queen Elizabeth’s court.

With Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster Francis Walsingham died in 1590 (a couple years after the events in Martyr), John Shakespeare decided to retire from the spy life and open a school with his wife. Just before the plague of 1593, Shakespeare is asked to help the Earl of Essex (Robert Devereux), who is a favorite of the Queen, investigate Eleanor Dare. Mrs Dare was one of the colonists in the missing colony of Roanoake and presumed dead. But she had been sighted back in England recently and the Earl of Essex wanted Shakespeare to get to the bottom of the mystery. Initially Shakespeare is inclined to turn it down, but when Lord Cecil asks him to help Essex out (and spy on him at the same time), Shakespeare agrees mainly because Lord Cecil can provide some protection for Shakespeare’s wife (who is Catholic and visiting her parents for most of the novel).

The majority of the book is Shakespeare’s investigation of Elizabeth Dare and several related cases, but the intrigue comes in from the side. The Earl of Essex (and his older sister Penelope) are conspiring to kill the Earl’s wife and marry him off to Lady Arabella (Stuart) who they feel has a legitimate claim to the throne. The plan is to do the marriage under the radar of the Queen and then possibly force the succession, if need be. Shakespeare’s main assistant, Boltfoot Cooper, is sidelined in the hospital and Shakespeare is playing in royal intrigue that he has never dealt with before. He needs to make sure that he is able to work with Lord Cecil and against the Earl of Essex without making unprovable charges. And he also needs to repair his relationship with his wife, protect his brother (who was pulled into the scandal unknowingly) and avoid confrontations with Richard Topcliffe.

Overall, the book is fairly well done. It captures a lot of the palace intrigue, especially the discussions about who is going to succeed the Queen (who is now 60 years old). The main mystery of Eleanor Dare is not nearly as interesting as the palace intrigue and I somewhat wish that it had been minimized in the story. Also, the solution to that mystery is presented a little to cleanly and simply. John Shakespeare is a good character, but Clements has removed (or minimized) most of the supporting characters, so it’s not as fleshed out as the first book was. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it, but feel it could have been even better. Mildly recommended.