Marbeck and the King-in-Waiting

September 9, 2013
The approaching end of Elizabeth I’s reign in 1603 creates plenty of drama in Pilkington’s second historical featuring intelligencer Martin Marbeck (after 2012’s Marbeck and the Double-Dealer). As speculation mounts as to the queen’s successor, the spy is anxious that the queen’s master secretary and his boss, Sir Robert Cecil, is keeping him at arm’s length because Cecil doubts his loyalty. Meanwhile, Marbeck’s widowed love interest, Lady Celia Scroop, is worried about the future of her 18-year-old son, Henry, who has abandoned his studies at Oxford to follow a rabid puritanical cleric, Isaac Gow. Marbeck tells Lady Cecilia he’ll do all in his power to help Henry, even as he receives word that he’s accused of being a Spanish agent. Other Elizabethan mysteries, like those of Rory Clements and Fiona Buckley, may offer more twists, but the fast-moving plot is never dull, making the prospect of more Marbeck welcome.

October 15, 2013
As Queen Elizabeth I lay dying, intelligencer Martin Marbeck's life is in turmoil. Marbeck had been Secretary of State Sir Robert Cecil's best spy. But now he's cut out, suspected of double-dealing. His lover, Lady Celia Scroop, begs him to go to Oxford, where her son Henry, who's attached himself to ranting puritanical preacher Isaac Gow, is about to abandon his studies. A trip to Oxford only shows how deeply Henry is involved. Marbeck is unable to detach him from the group who dislikes Elizabeth's reign and is even more unhappy that King James of Scotland, reputed to have Catholic leanings, is about to become ruler of England. Marbeck follows the group to Cambridge, where he meets Poyns, an intelligencer who trusts his loyalty but is unable to help. Upon returning to London, Marbeck seeks out Cecil's trusted employee Nicholas Prout, who believes in Marbeck's innocence and sends him, along with another spy, to infiltrate a group of papists that has gathered troops and arms to put a Spanish infanta on the throne. Marbeck treads a dangerous path. Upon blowing up the rebels' armory, he barely escapes with his life. King James is making slow progress toward London, his life in danger at every turn. Marbeck must use all his many wiles to rescue Henry, protect the new monarch and get back into Cecil's good graces. The second in this fine series (Marbeck and the Double-Dealer, 2013) provides all the derring-do and historical interest needed to keep readers entranced.

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November 1, 2013

It is spring of 1603, and Martin Marbeck, one of the queen's most loyal intelligencers, finds himself strangely ostracized at an awkward time; Queen Elizabeth I is in the throes of dying. Europe watches because England will be particularly vulnerable during the transition to a new ruler; Spain is ready to pounce. Spanish spies, Italian financiers, and English dissidents are plentiful, so Marbeck treads carefully as he looks for people he can trust. Upon the queen's death, the new ruler, King James I, must get safely from Scotland to London. Simultaneously, the irrepressible Marbeck has found allies; working undercover, they creatively devise a plan to protect England from traitorous forces within her borders. Expect thrilling fencing and clever disguises to save the day. VERDICT The sophomore entry (after Marbeck and the Double-Dealer) for Pilkington's dashing hero will thrill readers who relish historic intrigue and cleverness.

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