Marbeck and the Gunpowder Plot

This book has the welcome feel of authenticity. Carefully researched, it provides a believable background story to the Gunpowder Plot. The atmosphere of the period is described consistently throughout. It is easy to read and you find yourself anxious to know how the story will work out. This book deserves to prove to be popular.

John Pilkington continues his Marbeck tales in Marbeck and the Gunpowder Plot. Marbeck finds out about the plot to blow king and parliament sky high, but there are plots within plots as usual. Marbeck finally tires of double dealing and murder, but the secret service is not through with him. Dark days and deeds.

Authentic Evocation of the Bid to Blow up Parliament, 5 Sept. 2015

This historical novel is the latest in a series of Marbeck mysteries but can be read as a stand-alone story.

Martin Marbeck is a government spy. It’s 1605 and King James is on the throne. The papists who originally were delighted with their new king have reached the inevitable conclusion that he is not a sympathiser of Rome and there is underlying unrest in the country. The scene is therefore set for a fast-moving mystery.

Everyone in Britain knows of November 5th and the gunpowder plot so it could be thought that the author would be constrained by the factual events of the day. Fortunately this is not the case as the story revolves around the life and loves of Martin Marbeck and his undercover work as an “intellgenter.”

The reader is taken back to the early 17th century as the author, through immaculate research, is not only able to describe life but in so doing is also able to conjure up the feel of the time and even the smells of the overcrowded cities. Political intrigue is rife. Poverty and its dire consequences can hit both aristocracy and the underclass alike. A term in the Clink is overpoweringly evoked – not a place to aspire to.

The reader of course knows the ending – the king and Parliament are saved. However the story is none the worse for this and the tension grows as the story progresses. This is an excellent novel which will keep the reader glued to the page and to answer the obvious question – Yes. Guy Fawkes makes an appearance – guess who he is! -- mr zorg

Rating: Five Stars.

I enjoyed the fast paced action and twisting plot of this novel. Not having read the first three books in this series, I had no trouble jumping into the story and getting to know the characters. Marbeck is a protagonist that the reader roots for, even if not all of his actions are completely honorable.

Marbeck receives his instructions from an underling of Secretary Cecil, who rose to power under Queen Elizabeth I and continues under the new Stuart king. As an intelligencer, which sounds so much more sophisticated than spy, Marbeck is becoming disillusioned with his unsettled life, various aliases, and doubt that his reports are always used for the best.

Before he can consider another type of life, he is caught up in a meandering investigation that begins with the ravings of a madman and the vague hints of a Jesuit priest. Marbeck is sure that gunpowder is being hoarded but struggles to determine where or why.

This is an action packed adventure centered on one of the best known historical events of the early 17th century. Marbeck has a bad feeling about the Parliament meeting scheduled for the 5th of November, but more than one force is working against him.

My only complaint? The ending isn't really an ending. I'll have to wait to learn Marbeck's fate in Pilkington's next tale.