A Murder by Any Name was an immediate pick for me. As I write more reviews, you’ll soon find out that I love historical fiction. In particular, I’ll always be happy to read any story that takes place in Tudor and Elizabethan times. I also love mysteries. So I LOVE it when I find a historical fiction mystery in this time period.
Title: A Murder by Any Name
Author: Suzanne M. Wolfe
Series: An Elizabethan Spy Mystery #1
First Published: October 9, 2018
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Categories: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Acquired: Purchased
Nicholas Holt – a black sheep with a heart of gold
Nicholas Holt is the younger son of a minor noble in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. In order to prove his family’s loyalty, he acts as a reluctant spy for Robert Cecil. As part of his cover, Nick runs The Black Sheep tavern in a seedy part of London alongside his childhood friend John and John’s wife, Maggie. Nick also has a loyal partner in the form of a gigantic Wolfhound named Hector.
When two of her young ladies-in-waiting are murdered, the Queen charges Nick with finding the killer.
Armed with a long list of suspects and a short list of clues, Nick finds himself hitting a series of dead ends. Queen Elizabeth is feeling personally threatened by the murders and her patience is running out. Nick needs to move fast.
I found Nick to be a very empathetic man. He is good friends with a pair of Jewish doctors (the twins Eli and Rivkah), finds solace in the arms of a street-savvy former prostitute (Kat) and moves easily amongst the higher and lower levels of society. Nick often expresses worries about small beggar children and the often-overlooked servants that keep the castles running smoothly.
A city filled with characters
As the story continued, I felt that there were A LOT of characters being introduced and I was a bit worried about having to keep track of them all. My fears were unfounded though – Wolfe does a great job of reminding you how characters are related to each other and to the story. The descriptions of the people and places really brought everything to life. Some well-known historical characters, like Elizabeth, Cecil, and Shakespeare, only play minor parts (although the descriptions of Queen Elizabeth are exactly how I always picture her – vain, steely, cunning and always in control), which is fine by me. Wolfe’s original characters are incredibly believable and likeable.
The story of the murder investigation itself was almost secondary to me – I was having too much fun meeting all the characters. I did figure out who the murderer was pretty early on so it wasn’t much of a surprise when the killer was revealed, but the journey of how Nick arrived at the solution was satisfying.
I was happy to find out that Wolfe is already working on the second book in the series and I can’t wait to return to the world of Nicholas Holt!
READ IT FOR YOURSELF
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Hallo, Hallo Stephanie,
This is the book I was eagerly awaiting to receive for review and the one which turnt into a DNF experience for me – I honestly didn’t connect to the characters, the story or the world being built inside it. In fact I’m passing my copy to a friend whose much more thrilled over its premise than I could become once the book was in front of me. By all counts, it should have worked for me — yet, for the reasons I explained on my blog, it just wasn’t my cuppa. It really just wasn’t a good fit but I’m thankful it was a good read for you. That’s what counts – each of us sorting out the authors we each love to be reading and the stories by them we hope others will enjoy as well.
Ooof, sorry that this one didn’t work out for you Jorie! I will go check out your review now. As you said, though, we’re all different and that’s what makes life interesting. It would be boring if we all liked/disliked the same things!