Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Caught reading a forbidden book (in the privy of all places!), Italian monk Giordano Bruno decides to flee his homeland rather than face the consequences of the Inquisition.  For several years he travels around Europe teaching at various universities and trying to stay one step ahead of his past.  By 1583, he arrives at England’s Oxford University for a  public debate concerning his theory that the sun is not the only one of its kind in the universe (a theory that does not have wide acceptance and is considered heretical).  He is also looking for a lost manuscript that may be somewhere in England.

But shortly after his arrival, one of the university fellows is brutally killed by a vicious dog – as Bruno helplessly watches.  His inquisitive mind leads him to wonder if it was an unfortunate accident – or an intentional murder.  The death of a second fellow within a few days leads to the conclusion that there is indeed a killer in their midst.  But who?

As England continues to be divided over religion, the manner of the killings indicate some sort of religious connection.  Through his friendship with Philip Sydney, Bruno is recruited by the Queen’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham, to see if he can ferret out any Catholic sympathizers that may be there and if there is a plot to overthrow the Queen.  As he digs deeper and deeper into who is responsible for the killings (and trying to prevent another) he is drawn into a web of secrecy and intrigue which reveals greater religious conflict than expected and may cost Bruno his life.  Bruno realizes that not everyone at Oxford is who they seem and no one can really be trusted - even the Rector's daughter (a fact which is complicated by Bruno's romantic feelings towards her).

I normally don’t read a lot of historical thrillers, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one and was kept guessing until the end.  I liked Bruno – he’s intelligent, thoughtful and possesses a great wit and sense of humor.   He also struggles with his conscience over deceiving people in order to find out information he thinks will get will help his future. His views on the universe along with his reputation for working with memorization tricks and being an excommunicate Italian monk make him an easy target for suspicion and ridicule.  Unfortunately amid all of the suspense and mystery over who the killer is, his search for the ancient manuscript kind of gets forgotten until towards the end where it seems an afterthought.  Still, I am looking forward to the next book in what will be a series about Bruno -  Prophecy will be released in May 2011.

The art of lying:  “Your honour, I was once a priest – I can lie as well as any man.”  Bruno to Walsingham  as they discuss the service he can provide to England. 

Only a book lover can relate:  “[t]he narrow shop smelled more like home than any place I had been since my arrival in Oxford, for it smelled of books…”  Bruno inside a book dealers shop as he makes inquiries for the book he is looking for.