A Clash of Spheres

February 20, 2017
Chisholm’s intricately plotted eighth Sir Robert Carey mystery (after 2014’s Chorus of Innocents) finds the English courtier on the Scottish border in late August 1592, charged with bringing order and ending the bloody feuds between the Scottish Catholic lords and their Protestant counterparts. Various parties, many of them historical personages, vie for influence over Elizabeth I’s heir, James VI of Scotland. The spheres of the title refer not only to spheres of influence—political, religious, and personal—but also to the celestial spheres. A climactic chapter features a debate between supporters of the Earth-centered Ptolemaic system and advocates of the rival Copernican system. Chisholm does a good job illuminating the quandary felt by many when new scientific discoveries challenged the old religion. Loyal to his queen and his conscience, Carey proves an able statesman in an installment full of adventure and intrigue, although light on conventional sleuthing.

February 1, 2017
The court of Elizabeth I once more outpaces today's politicians for cunning, effrontery, and vengeful machinations.Handsome, brave, clever Sir Robert Carey is doubly related to the queen as the son of Lord Hudson, who was the by-blow of Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn. Carey has just been appointed Deputy Warden on the Scottish border country, home to his longtime henchman Henry Dodd, who's become his enemy since Carey avoided a battle in which Dodd's blood enemies, the Grahams, would have been slaughtered (A Chorus of Innocents, 2015). In addition, Carey spies for Sir Robert Cecil, the queen's privy councillor. Scotland is awash in plots to kill Elizabeth's heir apparent, King James of Scotland, who refuses to get rid of the Catholic lords plotting with Spain to invade England. Carey arrives in Edinburgh with Simon Anricks, a Jewish philosopher and dentist bearing a secret letter from England, who's set to debate another philosopher before the king on the weighty matter of how the solar system works. Dodd has accepted money to kill Carey. Just to make things more interesting, Lord Spynie, the king's former favorite, is also plotting to kill him along with the elderly husband of Carey's love, Lady Elizabeth Widdrington. The court is packed during the Christmas season with all manner of people, some of them eager to see James himself dispatched. Carey is lucky to escape death in an ambush disguised as a hunting accident. Dodd's wife, Janet, who's thoroughly disgusted with him, arrives at court with a warning about a possible plot to kill James. As the fates of Scotland and England hang in the balance, Carey finds so many suspects that it's hard to identify the potential killer or killers. As usual, Chisholm moves effortlessly from fascinating historical background to philosophical musings to violent action. Although this latest installment can be read as a stand-alone, untutored readers might want to start the series from the beginning.

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February 1, 2017

In Chisholm's eighth series entry (after A Chorus of Innocents), tensions run high in 1592 Britain. Still pining for his (married) love, Sir Robert Carey has finally secured his place as deputy warden at the Borders at Carlisle, though not without incurring some enemies. There are rumblings of Spanish plans for action in Scotland, and as the Elizabethan political machine grinds into high gear, with various royal members caught in the wheels, Sir Robert must stay out of the way.

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