This is a great historical murder mystery set in Elizabethan London .

The times are troublesome , Elizabeth I's influence is waning , the country's stability fragile - a young boy's body is found in the City of London with strange marks that no one can explain .
Physician Nicholas Shelby finds another gutted body with the same marks just days later - he is convinced that a killer is at large , targeting the poor .
Nicholas is determined , along with the mysterious apothecary , Bianca , to solve the case - but at what cost to both of them ?
Still recovering from the death of his wife in childbirth , Nicholas tries to get the Authorities to act - to no avail .
But when he is forced to act as a spy he uses the time to further his investigation - placing Bianca and himself in great danger .
This is a brilliant book which shows the fragility of life to both high and low born in an era full of strife , potential war and catholic heretics .

I was given an arc of the book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I couldn’t wait to start this book set in Elizabethan England in the 1590s. I was not disappointed: it was brilliant!
The main character Nicholas Shelby is a physician and one day he attends a lecture where a young boy’s body is dissected. Nicholas is convinced the child was murdered but he cannot find anyone to take him seriously.
He then endures heartbreak when his wife dies in childbirth. He feels that he should have been able to use his medical knowledge to help save her. Plunged into despair, he tries to take his own life but is rescued by Bianca, a Paduan tavern keeper with an extensive skill in herbal concoctions.
Nicholas regains his strength but the boy’s murder continues to occupy his thoughts. Then another body is discovered with identical marks on the leg which would have caused extensive bleeding but this body was then gutted.
The authorities are still not interested in the murders of vagrants: they have heresy and treason to concern themselves with! But then Nicholas is forced to act as a spy and is able to follow his own agenda too, putting himself and Bianca is great danger…
This was a simply brilliant read. I was swept up in the world of Elizabeth’s England which Perry describes accurately and in awful detail. The brutal nature of the crimes and everyday experiences conveys the struggles that all members of the society faced whether high or low born.

I love books that have anything to do with history provided the author has done their research and the content of the book fits the era in which it is set, this one does, so gets a large tick for that. It's set in Elizabethan London and the main character, Nicholas Shelby, is a trainee surgeon who, in a lecture where the body of a child is being dissected, spots something amiss. No-one seems to take any notice of what he sees and this starts him off on a one man mission to solve a crime. There are twists and turns on the way and a decline in fortune which sees him link up with Bianca, a tavern owner who is also an apothecary. Together they solve the crimes, but not before they put themselves in danger.
The book combines factual historical figures and fictional ones in the story and does it successfully, it will be interesting to see if Nicholas and Bianca come up against Robert Cecil in future stories in the series - I'll look forward to finding out!

Imagine medieval London: Intrigue, squalor, denunciation, death.
Despite his humble origins, Nicholas Shelby attains a place at the Royal College of Surgeons under the famous anatomist Roger Vaesy. When his wife and child die in childbirth, he crashes and burns, ending up in a drunken stupor. Rebecca Merton, an italo-British publican, saves him from homelessness by giving him a job. Her life as a quasi-foreigner is precarious in these times and she is under suspicion simply for being a herbalist. Then there are bodies washed up from the Thames, a crippled child among them, all bearing a cross-shaped incision on their bodies. Nicholas is eager to find the murderer, but then events take a threatening turn. Will a debt to an old allegiance turn Nicolas into a cog of the ubiquitous blackmailing machinery or even kill him?
If you liked “The Way of all Flesh”, you will love this, too.
A very densely told story, illustrating the narrow path a person in these days has to follow if they want to avoid a painful death. Scheming and jostling for a position in court and the favour of the Queen is paramount and the consequences filter down to the lowest of classes.
Beautifully told with an eye for historic detail, this story is creating an atmosphere that makes you look over your shoulder constantly...

When a book comes with a glowing recommendation from a respected author of historical fiction like Rory Clements (whose ‘John Shakespeare’ series I absolutely love by the way), you have a real sense of expectation as you turn the first few pages. I’m happy to say that in the case of The Angel’s Mark those first few pages – and all the pages after that, as it happens – didn’t disappoint.

As other writers of historical fiction have discovered, the latter part of the 16th century is a promising period in which to set a historical crime novel. Fear of the plague, of plots to overthrow the Queen as well as concerns about the succession and the threat of possible invasion have created an atmosphere of suspicion in Elizabethan England. It’s a time when information, in the form of intelligence gathered by a network of spies and informers, has become a valuable commodity. It’s also a time when discoveries in science and medicine are coming into conflict with religious belief.

Personal tragedy, fueled by a sense of guilt at his inability to prevent it, has brought Nicholas Shelby to the point of despair when he chances upon a mystery that reawakens his physician’s curiosity; that, and a fortunate encounter with the independent-minded and resourceful Bianca Merton, owner of The Jackdaw tavern. However, as the reader will discover, it’s not just her skills as an apothecary that Bianca must hide. Together they embark on a search for a killer with a distinctive but gruesome calling card. Soon that search brings them into contact with powerful men (it would be a surprise in a novel set in this period not to run into a member of the Cecil family at some point!) who may pose as much of a risk as does the ruthless killer they are seeking.

The Angel’s Mark has all the ingredients I look for in a great historical crime mystery: a wealth of period of detail that conjures up the sight, sounds and smells of the time; a host of colourful characters to provide possible suspects; and a plot full of twists and turns with a generous helping of red herrings and “I wasn’t expecting that” moments. It kept me guessing right to the end. I’m definitely hoping for more of the same from this author in the future.

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Corvus and NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.

This is a well plotted Elizabethan "detective" thriller.

Nicholas Selby wonders about the marks he sees on a dead body during an autopsy. His interest is further heightened when another body is pulled from the river with the same marks. Will anyone listen to what he has to say or will they disregard him as his life crumbles around him?

I really enjoyed this book. It is a bit different from the run of the mill. Nicholas Selby is a physician with a general practice, a wife and a baby on the way. Consequently quite a lot of the evidence and story are based around the practicalities and study of medicine in Elizabethan England. I know a little about this and what I knew fitted in well with the story. It seemed to have been well researched with plenty of historical context and background.

There are several supporting characters who fitted in well with the class structure of the day. The heirarchy of the court, medics and down to the street people was well researched and the author used these to great effect within the story.

As a detective story it was well written. There is plenty going on to keep the story moving along although I wouldn't call it a book full of action.

I would very much like to read another book with Nicholas Selby - I do hope that the author is planning a series.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

A very good, engaging and informative historical mystery. It's well researched and it's a very realistic and colouful depiction of the historical period.
The mystery was interesting and enthralling even if a bit slow at the beginning. After the first part I was hooked and had to keep on reading.
One of the best piece of historical fiction I read this year.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Atlantic Books and Netgalley for this ARC

This story really gives you the feel of Elizabethan England. It well combines the main character of physician Nicholas Shelby with real life characters of Robert Cecil the Lord Treasurer’s son and Lord John Lumley the queens friend who has a past of once desiring a Catholic monarchy. Murder is being committed but only Nicholas is seeing the thread that joins the victims. They are the poor and destitute who nobody would miss.
This story keeps you immersed in the uncertainty of life at this time for both poor and rich alike. The accusation of heresy being a very cruel death.
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt it gave a real taste of what Elizabethan London was like, with accurate turns of phrase and some real historical figures of the time playing major parts in the plot, such as John Lumley and his wife Lizzie who lived at Nonsuch. The story begins with the downfall of physician Nicholas Shelby, but soon becomes 'un-putdownable' with the discovery of a possible serial killer on the loose.
It is not only a riveting mystery. but also a great insight into the social attitudes of the time, with the fervent hunts for those not following the 'new religion', and the poor view of women despite having a Queen on the throne.
The historical aspect of the book was as interesting as the mystery and I found myself feeling very grateful that I was not born into those times!
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's a challenge to write mystery about this period without resorting to cliche or overused tropes, but SW Perry does a great job here. This is engaging and surprising in equal measure.

SW Perry's debut is set in Elizabethan England with a medical profession that is often more of a danger to their patients than of any help, and which works side by side with the Barber-Surgeons. It is 1570 in London, Catholics are hunted as paranoia spreads about plots to overthrow Queen Elizabeth. Suffolk yeoman, Dr Nicholas Shelby, notices strange signs on the body of a young crippled boy that suggest he was murdered. However, the boy is a nobody and no one wants to hear Shelby's suspicions, least of all the medical profession or the law. When Shelby is unable to prevent the death of his beloved wife, Eleanor, and his unborn child, he descends into the deepest pit of grief, misery and despair, losing his bearings and losing everything. He ends up washed up on the banks of the River Thames, where he is rescued by half Italian Mistress Bianca Merton, owner of the Jackdaw Tavern, utilising her considerable skills as an apothecary to ensure that Shelby survives. Rumours abound that Bianca is a witch and there are concerted efforts to ensure women are kept out of a profession that is deemed for men alone.

When Shelby comes across another body with similar markings, he is determined to find the killer, even if nobody else believes him or cares about the poor and afflicted victims. Taking up a position as a physician at St Tom's, he begins to pick up the threads of his career again. It soon becomes clear there are many more victims of the killer. Young Elise Cullen takes her younger crippled brother, Ralph, to look for sanctuary with a supposedly wealthy relative after it becomes clear that her prostitute mother cannot care for them, and constitutes a danger. Carrying her brother as she walks, they encounter an 'angel' offering them help but it all turns out to be a horrifying nightmare from which Elise barely escapes with her life, her brother lost. Bianca joins forces with Shelby in his quest to unmask the murderer. Shelby seeks the help of the goodly John Lumley to help him, asking to using his famously well stocked medical library. Lumley accedes to the request, being a man of progress and inquiry in the face of so many in medicine who feel there is nothing more to discover and instead evoke religion and God's will when they so often failed to heal. Encountering blackmail, betrayal, and desperate danger, Shelby and Bianca are forced to be resourceful and rely on their wits to lift themselves out of the dire circumstances they find themselves in.

To be honest, I had to read a third of the book before the story took off for me, mostly because of the level of detachment in the narrative. However, once I became absorbed, I was completely hooked by this tense and suspenseful tale and in its richly detailed picture of the historical period with its deployment of real characters from that time. The social attitudes of the era are well captured along with the behind scenes political machinations of the powerful. Medical knowledge and progress is poor, and there are professional rivalries, and a desire to close down any competitors such as apothecaries in what truly is a man's world. I ended up really enjoying this wonderful piece of historical fiction and recommend it highly to those who are fans of historical mysteries and/or interested in the Elizabethan period. Many thanks to Atlantic Books for an ARC.

This story is set in Elizabethan England and explores the nature of medicine at the time. There are physicians and barber-surgeons and very incorrect views about how blood travels around the body. Women are not allowed to practice medicine despite their previous positions in Padua. This provides the backdrop for a murder story involving Nicholas and Bianca - two characters I’d really like to learn more about in future books. Nicholas is a physician and the story starts with him attending the ‘autopsy’ of a young boy who has been fished from the river. Nicholas is convinced that he has been murdered but, before he can get anyone interested in his theory, his wife dies in childbirth and he abandons his profession in his grief, He is later rescued but a tavern owner and ‘medic’ Bianca. She, and a couple other women, are strong female characters in a male world but a friendship blossoms between them. Nicholas then sees another body he is sure has been killed in the same way as the boy we met st the beginning. There are some real historical figures included in the story and the struggles with religion are also evident. I very much enjoyed this book and will look out for any sequels.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.