The Assassin of Verona

Starred review from March 25, 2019
Brandreth’s excellent sequel to 2018’s The Spy of Venice, which featured a young William Shakespeare, opens with a prologue set in 1585 Rome, where the newly anointed Pope Sixtus V plots to depose the “heretic Queen Elizabeth” through a network of spies he’s established in England. Sixtus orders four priests to track down three Englishmen in Italy believed to know the identities of the papal agents, one of whom is William, and use any means necessary to protect these agents from exposure. In the previous novel, William joined a diplomatic mission of his countrymen to Venice as a spy, posing as the English ambassador’s steward. While Brandreth keeps the intrigue at a high pitch, frequently placing his lead in harm’s way, he leavens the action with a moving subplot concerning William’s lover, poet Isabella Lisarro, whom the future playwright fears has been poisoned at the orders of the pope. Apt quotes from Shakespeare’s plays serve as chapter heads. Brandreth once again integrates vivid period detail into a well-crafted thriller plot. Agent: Ivan Mulcahy, MMB Creative (U.K.).

April 15, 2019
In this second series entry (after The Spy of Venice, 2018), we find Shakespeare, in his role as an agent for Elizabeth I, still in Italy, disguised as a steward to the pretend English ambassador. It is 1586, and the Catholic powers on the Continent are determined to dethrone the heretic Elizabeth, and Shakespeare's actor friends and fellow spies have obtained a list of identified conspirators in England. Two of the men begin the perilous return home with this intelligence, while Shakespeare remains with his dying lover. The travelers stop at a castle where the duke's daughter, Aemelia, is involved in a secret love affair (sound familiar?) and are trapped there when one of the pope's inquisitors also takes up residence. Meanwhile, Verona is beset by a band of outlaws, and a complex tragedy unfolds in which everyone somehow ends up in the forest with them. Bodies amass, revenge is taken?and Shakespeare finds even more dramatic inspiration. Fans will enjoy the inclusion of many lines from the Bard's plays and sonnets but may be a bit disappointed by his somewhat abbreviated role. No matter: Aemelia steals the show.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)