London in the mid 1570s and rumour abounds of plots against the Queen with both Catholic nations at their centre. When one of his informants disappeared Radcliff is concerned but his paymaster, the Earl of Leicester, has other plans for him. Radcliff is sent to France to liaise with Sir Francis Walsingham and find out what he can against about a plot named Incendium which will destroy Elizabeth and put her cousin Mary (Queen of Scots) on the throne. In Paris Radcliff is caught up in the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre and this affects him deeply. Returning to London he finds that his two lines of enquiry are connected and also that there is a traitor in his circle.

This is the first in a proposed series of books about an Elizabethan intelligence agent, Radcliff, from a writer with a strong track record in writing historical fiction. I did like the fact that the reader is introduced to Radcliff with little backstory and only snippets are given. We are told that Radcliff is afraid of prisons within the first few pages and that he used to be a Cambridge lecturer, later we learn that he spent time in prison and later still we are told the nature of the crime and how he ended up in London. However there is no great detail and this allows Swanston the luxury of being able to explore that in later books. The plot is suitably complex, the sense of time and place excellent with the scenes set in Paris and Amiens particularly well-researched and touching. I look forward to reading the next chapter. ( )

As soon as I saw Incendium by A.D. Swanston, I wanted it! The cover is beautiful! Never mind `don’t-judge-a-book-by-its-cover` – I wanted this book!

It did not let me down.

I haven’t read anything set in this era since I was a child and reading The Lady Grace Mysteries. It was refreshing to immerse myself in a different time and Swanston made this time accessible – I picked up on the way of life pretty much straight away!

The plot involves mystery, murder and a man trying to figure it out before it is too late. It is not the most action-packed or mysterious (I figured out who it was about a hundred pages before the character!).

What this book is, however, is steady. It gripped my attention the entire way through and remained a solid read throughout. It didn’t matter that I knew who it was – they still had to catch him! The pacing never slipped, the characters were solid and the plot enjoyable from start to finish. Never underestimate a steady book – they seem to be rare these days!

Christopher Radcliff is a thoroughly likeable character. There is a hint of darkness to his background that gives him depth but his determination shouldn’t be underestimated. Christopher is out of his depth for most of the novel but he refuses to give up.

The Earl of Leicester is temperamental – but that only raises the stakes for Christopher. Tomasso is a good friend and Christopher couldn’t have done it without him. Ell was fantastic – she relieved the tension and stopped scenes becoming too heavy.

Katherine’s character was the problem for me. She demanded so much of Christopher – things that could have them arrested for treason if anyone found out she knew. Yet she still demanded, and never listened to his explanations. The way Katherine was presented made it hard for me to see why Christopher loved her.

I will be recommending this book to as many people as I can. I loved it! It was refreshing, engaging and never faltered from the first page to the last. Despite some predictability, I was still caught unawares at other times and, basically, really enjoyed reading Incendium.

A thoroughly good read for sure! ( )