I love the cover - eye-catching and detailed. The Saracen's Mark is the third novel about Nicholas Shelby, a maverick physician who ends up a reluctant spy to Robert Cecil, and his relationship with Bianca Merton, a Catholic from Padua who now runs The Jackdaw Tavern and is also an apothecary. Set against the background of the returning Plague to the streets of London and the back alleys of Marrakesh Nicholas and Bianca must work separately to undercover the mystery of a sadistic murder of an elderly and harmless Jew.
Perry writes well to evoke the atmosphere of Elizabethan backstreets, the life of an apothecary, the fear of plague, the superstition, etc. The underlying fear of Catholics is reflected well in Bianca's constant worry of discovery.
Of the characters Bianca and Cecil are strongly portrayed, Nicholas a slightly softer being, but they all gel well. I'll certainly read another by S W Perry.
Perry writes well to evoke the atmosphere of Elizabethan backstreets, the life of an apothecary, the fear of plague, the superstition, etc. The underlying fear of Catholics is reflected well in Bianca's constant worry of discovery.
Of the characters Bianca and Cecil are strongly portrayed, Nicholas a slightly softer being, but they all gel well. I'll certainly read another by S W Perry.