The English Agent

December 12, 2016
In DePoy’s middling second Christopher Marlowe mystery (after 2016’s A Prisoner in Malta), Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I’s spymaster, dispatches the playwright to Delft, Holland, to save the life of William the Silent, the “prime mover of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish.” Walsingham has learned of an assassination plot aimed at William, the success of which would have worldwide consequences. Marlowe teams with a formidable ally, Leonora Beak, a relative of the queen, and also Walsingham’s daughter, Frances. Marlowe eventually learns that the murderous plot is but the prelude to a larger one, with an even more significant target. DePoy’s efforts suffer in comparison with more skilled writers dealing with the same period such as Rory Clements. Readers should be prepared for some heavy-handed irony (e.g., Marlowe tells fellow playwright Thomas Kyd that his pre-Shakespeare Hamlet play will be “the definitive version of that story” and that no one is going to pay attention to any other). Agent: Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary Management.

December 15, 2016
Pressed into investigation in service of the queen, playwright Christopher Marlowe must learn the truth about a plot to destroy the nation. Marlowe may have found the best distraction ever from poor reviews of his disastrous new opening: a mission from Queen Elizabeth. Fearing for the life of her Dutch ally William the Silent and worried about what potential threats against him may mean for her, she seeks England's best investigator in Marlowe. She sends her request via Dr. Rodrigo Lopez, that "Portuguese Jew [and] remorseless assassin" who also happens to be Marlowe's childhood tutor. Without thinking to question his monarch, the patriotic Marlowe goes on his mission, paired with Leonora Beak, a capable young woman who may be his match in combat and wit. The two verbally tussle throughout their mission, arguing about everything from the best way to interact with Travelers to who gets to ride at the front of the horse. Finally, in Delft, Leonora and Marlowe wonder whether they're too late to save William the Silent, yet both seem aware their adventure is only beginning. What greater scheme is the plot a part of? On returning to London, Marlowe tries to use his cunning and his connections to figure out who the mastermind is. He's disquieted by the feeling that even past allies may take sides against him when it comes to choosing between allegiance to Elizabeth or to Mary. A more minor mystery that catches his attention, this one more personal, threatens to derail his apparently preordained path to saving the country and the true queen. Fairly nonsensical but par for the course for DePoy, who writes characters from child protective workers (Cold Florida, 2016) to Christopher Marlowe as fast-talking action heroes.

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January 1, 2017
A game to rival Shakespearean comedy is afoot in the realm of Queen Elizabeth I, refereed by Francis Walsingham, with Kit Marlowe as key player. Readers who snap up M. J. Trow's Kit Marlowe mysteries, with their charming, snarky hero, also will appreciate the witty and well-connected student-playwright Marlowe of DePoy's series. This time it's clear from the start that the usually lighthearted Kit faces unusually serious challenges as he engages with Beak, a rather talented spy, and with gypsy travelers and the King of the Weird Folk. Complicating matters, Kit is commanded to shoot a poet he admires. Violence, treachery, and rumors of assassinations mix with masquerade, plagiarism, and tongue-in-cheek playacting in an intricate plot that carries readers into the heart of Elizabethan-era social contrasts and political conundrums. The hapless Marlowe skates very close to disaster in service to his queen in this surprisingly suspenseful romp that includes a good number of well-portrayed historical figures alongside the fictional dramatis personae. Readers may be similarly intrigued by the spy-jester in Alan Gordon's Fools' Guild mysteries, especially The Parisian Prodigal, and by Edward Marston's Nicholas Bracewell series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)