Death by Disputation

Written by Anna Castle

Narrated by Joel Froomkin

Thomas Clarady risks his life, his eternal soul — and his chastity!

Tom is recruited to spy on a group of radical Puritans at Cambridge University with Francis Bacon as his spymaster -- his tutor in tradecraft and politics. Their commission gets off to a deadly start when Tom finds his chief informant hanging from the roof beams. Now he has to catch a murderer as well as a seditioner. His first suspect is the volatile poet Christopher Marlowe, who keeps turning up in the middle of Tom's investigations.

Dogged by unreliable assistants, chased by lusty women, and harangued daily by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his heart and soul to stop the villains and win his reward.

First In Category for the 2015 Chaucer Awards Elizabethan/Tudor period.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anna Castle
• Release date: Mar 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9780991602575

Anna Castle

Anna Castle writes the Francis Bacon mysteries and the Lost Hat, Texas mysteries. She has earned a series of degrees -- BA in the Classics, MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Linguistics -- and has had a corresponding series of careers -- waitressing, software engineering, grammar-writing, assistant professor, and archivist. Writing fiction combines her lifelong love of stories and learning. She physically resides in Austin, Texas and mentally counts herself a queen of infinite space.

Reviews for Death by Disputation

[vesper1931 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's March 1587 and Thomas Clarady who has been recruited as a spy by Francis Bacon is sent to Cambridge University, because of the rumours of reformation within the church. Tom's brief is to determine the extent, and the leaders, of the radical Protestants or Puritans. But the job starts off badly when he finds his chief informant dead.
A very enjoyable read, I like the style of writing and the believable characters.

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Francis Bacon is spymaster for the court of Queen Elizabeth I under the court's chief advisor, Bacon's uncle. Word has come about religious zealots becoming more active at Cambridge and something needs to be done. Bacon enlists the willing help of Thomas Clarady to go undercover and relay information of the brewing rebellion.

Thomas isn't there long when his tutor is found dead, hanging from a beam in their quarters. Suicide is the initial decision, but that can't be as the dead man was the informant to the court of the radical activity. Now there are two things for Thomas to investigate...rebellion and murder.

Thomas has come to Cambridge under the guise of becoming a man of the church. To further convince the group he is trying to infiltrate, he takes on the manners and dress of the Puritans (radical group), which is a complete reversal of his normal self. Can he pull it off?

I enjoyed reading of characters from the first book, but was missing some of them as they weren't part of this plot. There were new characters to fill in some of the blanks, Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nash. There was also the humour and bantering that was in the first book.

There were clues and characters that kept me guessing and trying to solve the puzzle before the end. It moved along at a good pace and there were parts that made you a little anxious that something really terrible would happen.

There is a third book in the series and I think I will have to read it to see what further happens with some of the characters.