A gorgeous book – rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure. It immerses you in the late 16th century and leaves you wrung out with terror. This is historical fiction at its most sumptuous.’ Rory Clements
‘Wonderful! Beautiful writing, and Perry’s Elizabethan London is so skilfully evoked, so real that one can almost smell it.’ Giles Kristian
‘The Angel’s Mark has the pace of a thriller… S.W. Perry is a welcome addition to the ranks of historical crime novelists.’ Simon Brett
So excited to be taking part in the Blog Tour for THE ANGEL’S MARK by S.W.PERRY so welcome along to my stop! My thanks to the author, publisher and Anne of RandomThingsTours for letting me be part of it all!
Here’s a little bit of information about this stunning book ahead of my five star review!
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Published by Corvus |Hardback | 06 September 2018 |£14.99
A fantastic, high class debut murder mystery set in Elizabethan London.
LONDON, 1590. Queen Elizabeth I’s control over her kingdom is wavering. Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars threatening the country’s fragile stability, the body of a small boy is found in the City of London, with strange marks that no one can explain.
When idealistic physician Nicholas Shelby finds another body displaying the same marks only days later, he becomes convinced that a killer is at work, preying on the weak and destitute of London.
Determined to find out who is behind these terrible murders, Nicholas is joined in his investigations by Bianca, a spirited tavern keeper. But when their inquiries lead them to the fearsome attentions of the powerful Robert Cecil, Nicholas is forced into playing to Cecil’s agenda, and becoming a spy…
As more bodies are discovered, the pair find themselves caught in the middle of a sinister plot. With the killer still at large, and Bianca in terrible danger, Nicholas’s choice seems impossible – to save Bianca, or save himself…
Purchase Links
Amazon UK £12.48
hive.co.uk £11.69
Book Depository £11.70
About the Author
S.W. Perry was a journalist and broadcaster before retraining as an airline pilot. He lives in Worcestershire with his wife and two spaniels.
MY REVIEW
What a debut! I found this to be an engrossing and chilling historical read, that brings Elizabethan London to life in stunning fashion, and allows a fascinating period of history to be looked at in a very different way.
At the heart of the story is Nicholas Shelby, a phsyician who tends to think outside the box, becomes fascinated by a mark he spots on the body of a young boy washed up on the side of the Thames. Where others dismiss the death of a poor boy as an accident he is convinced there is more to the death than meets the eye, and when another body washes up with the same mark he is even more determined to investigate further despite those in authority unwilling to believe his account even when more bodies later appear with the same marks.
Nicholas is suffering his own issues and personal tragedy at the time, so these deaths give him another focus in life and you can understand why he becomes so obsessed and unlikely to listen to others who warn him off. And when he is helped by Bianca, a local tavern owner, who in herself isn’t one to conform and is often looked at differently because of her beliefs and approach to medicine, he gets to see a different side to the London he knows, and different sides to the people he thought he knew before. He has a caring heart and is determined to seek justice for those killed, no matter what walk of life they are from.
Alongside the story of Nicholas is that of Elise, an equally fascinating character. She’s a young girl but has had an extremely hard start in life but is utterly devoted to her younger disabled brother, and the story she conveys is a heartbreaking one and just as important. It also helped to show the difference in life between the haves and the havenots of the time.
There is a lot of political and religious stories contained throughout as well which gave this story much more depth. It showed clearly how distrustful many of the time were towards different medicines, and those who pursued these forms of treatment were looked down upon and treated so differently, and those who dispensed ‘natural remedies’ were seen as using witchcraft and actively sought out to get rid of.
There was so much to get to grips with in this story, and the author did an amazing job of carrying it all along so that it never felt like the story was dragging or being ‘overdone’! It was extremely well written, dark, full of intrigue and a completely captivating story. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!
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Books and Me! 
Huge thanks for the fabulous Blog Tour support Karen x
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always me pleasure Anne! x
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