I am delighted to share my review today for The Angel’s Mark by S.W. Perry. I have had this book for a while and I am so glad I have finally got to reading it. This is the first book in the Nicholas Shelby series and I am looking forward to reading the rest.

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 mysterious tavern keeper. 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…

MY REVIEW

Set in Elizabethan England in 1590, the author creates a world around a physician. Dr Nicholas Shelby is a young doctor and one that doesn’t always believe in the old ways. New research is coming forward but this is a time when heretics, herbalists and witchcraft are not accepted. A licence is required to carry out basic medicine unless you are lucky enough to be one of the learned gentlemen.

Shelby suffers a dramatic event in his life, which leads him astray and towards the banks of the Thames. Here he discovers something unnatural at work when the body of a child is discovered with a dubious symbol cut into the leg. With the help of local tavern owner Bianca, they discover that London’s secrets are much deeper and more far-reaching than they ever imagined.

I do love good historical fiction that is full of murder and mayhem and this one is just the book to tick those boxes. The author doesn’t just focus on the characters and the story but also brings in relevant and very interesting medical procedures, thoughts, practices and observations of the time. This extra detail is wonderfully woven into the story and adds something special.

England does have a Queen in the form of Elizabeth I, but the country is still settling after Henry VIII and his dissolution of the Roman Catholic Church. It was Elizabeth that restored Catholicism with the Pope as its head, but she also established the Church of England with herself as the head. At this time religion is something that you are expected to take part in and if you do not attend the right Church it can hamper your future career. Shelby discovers that religion isn’t the only way your career can be ruined. Medicine had its own rules, regulations and thoughts and to rock that particular boat is to court trouble.

As well as Shelby’s story, there is another mysterious one. It is a troubled and hurt soul that the author uses in this instance, these passages are italicised and they tell of hardship and loss.

This is brilliantly researched and I loved the way the author brings in politics, religion, medicine and opinions of the time into the story. This is well-researched and the author obviously likes this era of history as he makes it exciting and so atmospheric. The different practices involved in medical practice are great, apothecary, witchcraft, herbalists, astrologers, divination and all manner of other tools used.

I really liked this and it is full of intrigue, suspicion, suspense, corruption and of course murder and mystery. Fabulous start to a series that I will definitely be keeping on with.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

S. W. Perry was a journalist and broadcaster before retraining as an airline pilot. He lives in Worcestershire, England with his wife.

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