Marbeck and the Double-Dealer

February 11, 2013
Pilkington, best known for his Thomas the Falconer mysteries (The Muscovy Chain, etc.), launches a new Elizabethan historical series with this promising novel introducing spy Martin Marbeck. After a botched mission overseas that left a colleague captive, Marbeck is charged by his spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, the queen’s secretary of state, to identify the mole within English intelligence who’s working for the Spanish. The mole hunt focuses first on two men Cecil suspects, but Marbeck’s initial inquiries point elsewhere, and the trail soon takes him across the channel to France. The murder of one of the two original suspects offers another wrinkle in his search. Rory Clements, Karen Harper, Fiona Buckley, and others have swelled the number of Elizabethan whodunits of late. Pilkington’s brisk pacing and gift at descriptions will make this a welcome addition to their ranks, even if the plotting and characterizations aren’t as sophisticated as the best in the subgenre.

March 1, 2013
An Elizabethan spy travels far and wide in the service of his queen. Marbeck, an often rash younger son, makes a precarious living as an intelligencer for Queen Elizabeth I, whose coldhearted secretary of state, Sir Robert Cecil, is England's spymaster. Although Marbeck has just escaped capture by the Spanish in Antwerp, a friend was not so lucky. Marbeck, a master at role-playing, must assume several new identities to accomplish the task Cecil has set him: find Morera, the double agent who is revealing England's secrets to the Spanish. Marbeck journeys to France, where a dying agent sends him to one of Morera's informants, the Comtesse de Paiva. Posing as an arms dealer looking to trade with the Spanish, Marbeck is welcomed by the Comtesse, but that night, he is attacked and captured by the Spanish, who take him to a ship for questioning. Marbeck slips away and returns to the Comtesse, who admits having taken Spanish spy Juan Roble as her lover. Barely escaping from the Comtesse's angry husband, Marbeck makes his way to Paris, where he questions another English spy before returning home. Even in London he is dogged by the Spanish, who seek to hide the identities of their agents. Marbeck must use every skill at his command to win the dangerous game. In a departure from his series featuring Thomas the Falconer (The Muscovy Chain, 2007, etc.), Pilkington introduces an intriguing new hero in the dashing Marbeck in an eventful tale packed with the usual Elizabethan minutiae.

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Starred review from April 1, 2013

Fearing the invasion of a second Spanish armada, Britain's spymaster sets maverick intelligencer Martin Marbeck on a mission to find out who's leaking secrets to the enemy. Marbeck interrogates possible moles in England, but it's not until he finds himself trapped in French Brittany that he appreciates the trouble England might be in; connections to Spain are rampant. Escaping in dramatic fashion, Marbeck devises an unorthodox plan to smoke out the traitors, and hopes the collateral damage will be small. Allying with fellow agent Joseph Gifford, Marbeck follows his intuition and finds a most surprising traitor. VERDICT Highly regarded historical mystery author Pilkington ("Thomas the Falconer" series) debuts a new series with grand flourish. His Tudor-era spy novel oozes intrigue and dramatically captures the unsettled mood of the times. Think James Bond for the 17th-century crowd. [See Prepub Alert, 10/08/12.]

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2013
Pilkington, a master of the historical mystery, produces another winner with a series-opener set in 1600 and featuring Marbeck, an intelligencer for Queen Elizabeth I. There's an uneasy peace in England for the time being, but according to reports from the intelligencer network, the Spanish may be about to launch another attack and resume open warfare. At least that's what the Spanish want the English to believe. Sir Robert Cecil, Marbeck's spymaster, is sure there's a double agent in his stable of spies and tasks Marbeck with unmasking the turncoat. Marbeck's search takes him to some of London's bleakest slums, a chateau in the south of France, the center of Paris, and back to England. During his search, he's seduced, kidnapped, shot at, knifed, and nearly killed by a swordsman. But every time Marbeck thinks he's close to discovering the double agent's identity, he finds himself at a dead end, with the wrong man in his sights. The truth, when Marbeck finally uncovers it, is both unexpected and tragic. A seventeenth-century James Bond, Marbeck is just as likely as 007 to get into deadly and dangerous situations, but like 007, he gets his villain in the end. A gripping, entertaining page-turner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)