‘When the fat burns, it really gets going, doesn’t it?’

Italy, 1607. In his new life, post intelligence work, Sir Anthony Standen is gathering the grapes at his vineyard in Frascati when he receives two visitors The first is Hugh O’Neill, the exiled Earl of Tyrone and the second is Cardinal Aldobrandini, the right-hand man of Pope Paul V. Sir Anthony remembers Hugh O’Neill: he had not seen him since 1599, when Sir Anthony attempted to join his rebel Irish army in order to spy on him for the Earl of Essex.

Anthony and Hugh are recruited by Cardinal Aldobrandini to investigate the mysterious murders of priests who have been burned in their churches on saint’s feast days. Each of the scenes is similar: the priests have been burned and are surrounded by a mound of earth. Could the murderer be one of the heretics, who believes that the earth orbits the sun?

The novel’s prologue immediately draws us into the scene of one of the crimes, and several scenes set up the politics (and some of the less savoury practices) of the 17th century Catholic church. Anthony and Hugh make a good team, although Hugh annoyed me at times, so he did. References to Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus really set the scene for me. Anthony and Hugh’s investigations take them across northern Italy much to the disgust of his wife Francesca. Their teenaged twins, Antonio and Maria also become involved as several possible murder victims are identified.

This is a fast-moving story which held my attention from beginning to end. This is the second novel in Mr West’s series featuring Sir Anthony Standen. It could be read as a standalone but reading the two books in order will be much more rewarding.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith