In THE HERETICS, John Shakespeare returns in a desperate
race to unravel a plot that threatens to destroy the very
heart of England.
To fulfill a promise to a dying priest, John Shakespeare
must track down Thomasyn Jade, a young woman who suffered
greatly at the hands of priests who performed a month long
exorcism on her. Shakespeare is to make sure she is well-
cared for and protected. It is a promise he has every
intention of keeping despite the differences of their
religions. But when a plot is uncovered that reveals a
papist Spanish plan to invade England, Shakespeare must
divide his focus between the search for those who would
attack his country and his search for a woman who might not
want to be found. From the theaters of London, to the marshy
fens outside Wisbech, to the coast of Cornwall, and back,
Shakespeare's two cases become increasingly entangled and he
must unravel the truth before it is too late.
THE HERETICS by Rory Clements is the fifth John
Shakespeare
mystery. I've quickly become a fan of Rory Clements as he
defies expectations by taking the story in unexpected
directions. He weaves the seemingly separate story threads
of his characters' lives into a unified tale that reveals a
deeper conflict. The intrigue of finding the true source of
power behind the Spanish invasion is a fascinating hunt
through half-revealed truths and carefully hidden
motivations, but it is the promise to a dying priest that
gives THE HERETICS its heart. Father Robert Southwell admits
to the wrongs of his past and seeks desperately to right
them before his death. John Shakespeare promises to help
right that injustice partly because of the injustice he sees
in the treatment of Father Southwell.
THE HERETICS is a
story of injustice and retribution. It is about people who
desperately seek to fix the wrongs they've done and the
wrongs done to them. Clements blurs the lines of justice and
pushes his readers to consider what justice truly means and
he does it with a clever plot only reveals itself at the
very end. Rory Clements is a talented author who continues
to impress and delight with each new John Shakespeare
Mystery.
An exorcism … a siege … a stealthy killer … What else could
go wrong?
John Shakespeare—intrepid private detective and brother to a
rising young playwright in Elizabethan London—is approached
by a condemned Jesuit priest with an unusual proposition:
the Father is haunted by the memory of Thomasyn Jade, a
teenage girl subjected to brutal exorcism rites a decade
past. He wants Shakespeare to track her down and offer
reparations for her treatment.
As Shakespeare begins his investigation, a plot to
assassinate the Queen is underway, and rumors of a papist
conspiracy begin swirling from Seville. And when, one by
one, Shakespeare’s trusted spies are horribly murdered, all
clues seem to be linked to the mysterious Thomasyn Jade …
Heart-pounding and packed with fascinating historical
detail, The Heretics is a thriller to rival the best of C.
J. Sansom and Alex Grecian.
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