Review ~ The Traitor's Mark by D K Wilson

Sphere
March 2015

Based on the true, and rather bizarre, story which surrounds the supposed death of the Tudor court painter, Hans Holbein, who purportedly died from the effects of plague in the autumn of 1543, and yet, there is no evidence to support this theory. This second book in the Thomas Treviot series of Tudor mysteries takes Holbein's mysterious disappearance as its starting point and develops a well thought out historical whodunit set around a series of clues which take the reader on an historical adventure through Tudor London.

Thomas Treviot is a young London goldsmith, who inadvertently, whilst awaiting an important jewellery commission from Holbein, gets drawn into a world of intrigues, danger and deceit.. Holbein's disappearance on the eve of Treviot's commission unleashes a whole series of catastrophic events, which lead Treviot inexorably into the dark and dangerous world of the Spanish spy master, those deadly figures who control the puppet strings of some of the greatest names at the Tudor court of Henry VIII.

I thought that, overall, this was good historical mystery, the sights sounds and smells of Tudor England come alive in the imagination and the reader embarks on a journey into the past, a place where political intrigue at the highest level, had repercussions on those who were trying to live an ordinary life.

I enjoyed getting to know Thomas Treviot and his companions, and even though this is book two in the series, it doesn't detract from the story by reading the series out of order, as this book sits comfortably on its own.

Well worth a read if you enjoy the Shardlake mysteries by C J Sansom as this author bears favourable comparison and The Traitor's Mark sits comfortably within the historical mystery genre.

More about the author 

My thanks to Sphere Publishing and The Crime Vault for my copy of this book

Thomas Treviot #1

2014