Twenty-something twins travel to Frankfurt, where unexpected adventure and turmoil await them.

The fourth installment of West’s Sir Anthony Standen Adventures opens in the summer of 1612. The family vineyard near Rome is producing well, and Sir Anthony decides to purchase the adjacent vineyard. Now they must expand their market for an anticipated increased yield. Maria suggests that she and her brother Antonio bring samples of their wine to the Frankfurt Trade Fair, where they hope to attract a large wine merchant. Little do the siblings suspect that they will find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery and political upheaval that will put their lives in danger. They enter Frankfurt, and as they gaze around at the vibrant, bustling main market square, Antonio notices that a handsome young man is admiring Maria. Enter Manuel Nuñez, a doctor with a complicated past who adds a new layer of interest to the novel. When Maria and Antonio visit the home of pawnbrokers Edith and Daniel Bamberger and later find the elderly Jewish couple’s murdered bodies, they vow to ferret out the killers, winding up embroiled in the “Fettmilch uprising,” a historically documented savage siege against Frankfurt’s small Jewish community. Here West reaches the heart of this episode—the story of the political unrest among the town merchants and the vicious antisemitism that is roiling Frankfurt. The early part of this installment, which for the first time uses the second generation of Standens exclusively as lead protagonists, progresses slowly, focusing on the budding romance between Maria and Manuel rather than on adventure. But with the discovery of the Bamberger murders, the narrative accelerates and moves into the realms of meticulous investigation, espionage, and high action that are the hallmarks of the Standen Adventures. West, as always, sprinkles informative historical tidbits within the story and seamlessly integrates early-17th-century conventions, styles, and such miraculous innovations as Manuel’s gadget the Janssenscope, a prototype microscope.

Tender love and chilling mob violence alternate in this engaging, disturbing period drama.

When an illustrious British spy receives a message from the queen of France requesting his assistance in matters critical to the court, he and his oldest daughter head to Paris.

This third volume in West’s enticing adventure series opens with a rousing sea escapade in which Sir Anthony Standen and his oldest daughter, Maria, find themselves battling a two-vessel fleet of Barbary pirates. Fans of all things nautical should thoroughly enjoy the high-action scenes as well as the many pages devoted to the exquisitely detailed descriptions of the innovations installed on the Standens’ newly launched sailboat. But by January 1610, Anthony is happily settled back on his Italian vineyard estate with his wife, Francesca, and their five children—20-year-old twins Maria and Antonio and youngsters William, Anna, and baby Catherine. Anthony has been instructing the twins—and readers who have a fondness for puzzles—in the arts of lock-picking and cryptanalysis, tools of his trade as a spy. A knock on the door brings a dispatch rider with a letter from Marie, Queen of France. The young dauphin, Louis, is struggling with a debilitating stutter. The court doctors, Marie writes, are considering amputating a portion of the child’s tongue to alleviate the problem. Can Anthony help the future king? But Anthony realizes that the missive also contains a secret code revealing a much more serious issue—somebody wants Marie’s husband, King Henry, dead (“Help we are in danger, foe within court”). Francesca suggests Anthony bring Maria with him to Paris, where she hopes he will find their spirited daughter a suitable husband—a prospect that the young woman is loath to consider. And so, father and daughter are off to the Louvre Palace. The pace of the narrative slows as the tale becomes an investigative procedural. Still, the story is filled with captivating historical digressions and, more compellingly, the rich intricacies of palace politics, jealousies, and ambitions. There are enough suspects among the queen’s most trusted advisers to keep readers guessing until the final pages. And Maria, who is given a prominent role in this installment, emerges as a sturdy, feminist protagonist.

An entertaining adventure that’s packed with diverse and intriguing historical morsels.

The first in a prospective series of spy novels about the real-life Sir Anthony Standen, an English spy for Queen Elizabeth I.

This novel fictionalizes Standen’s contribution to the sinking of two Spanish fleets meant to invade England during wars between Catholics and Protestants in Europe. He’s the Catholic son of a lawyer, and he was traumatized by his early witnessing of religious violence. He joins the Scottish court, eventually saving the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and gaining a knighthood. Embroiled in political conflict after his employer Lord Darnley is murdered and consequently unwelcome in England, he finds himself at the English Embassy in Paris in 1567, seeking to gain the English queen’s pardon through employment under spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham’s recommendation. Standen’s many adventures take him across Europe as he takes on multiple identities in France, England, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the Ottoman Empire. West does a masterful job of introducing Standen’s character while also showing 16th-century Europe through his eyes. The novel also delivers a remarkably nuanced depiction of diverse cultures and kingdoms along the way. The author establishes early on that his protagonist seeks “fame and fortune,” and keeps Standen’s characterization consistent and intriguing as he pursues these motivations. West carefully documents the consequences of Standen’s desire to prove himself and gain material wealth, creating a complex portrait. Spy techniques, fight scenes, and an array of attractive supporting characters give the novel a James Bond–esque atmosphere while staying rooted in historical context. However, its abundance of action-packed detail can make the plot somewhat hard to follow, particularly when it involves three men named Henry and three men named Anthony.

A dense but suspenseful European espionage tale.

In this second installment of an adventure series, somebody is killing priests in Italy and the pope seeks aid in finding the culprit.

It is 1607, and Sir Anthony Standen is now the proud owner of a vineyard in Frascati, about 15 miles outside of Rome. He and his wife, Francesca, have four children—two youngsters plus their indomitable 19-year-old twins, Antonio and Maria. Another baby is on the way, and Anthony is happy to be home with his family and finished with his years of perilous escapades fulfilling political and military missions for the pope. But now a frenemy of sorts from the past, Hugh O’Neill, the exiled Irish Earl of Tyrone, has come to visit. And after two days of pleasantries, there is a new arrival at the door—Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, bearing a request from Pope Paul, with the promise of substantial payment. Find the person who has torched two priests, leaving behind an especially gruesome tableau. The victims were struck on the head, tied up, then placed on a pile of brandy-soaked straw and set ablaze. Curiously, the straw was enclosed within a foot-high wall of earth, suggesting the brutal slayings are intriguingly symbolic. Hugh and Anthony, both in need of cash, agree to investigate. Thus begins a clever historical novel that mixes a touch of danger with papal politics and the newly emerging heretical theory that Earth revolves around the sun. West’s fictionalized account of the period treats readers to delightful face-to-face conversations with such luminaries as Galileo and his fellow champion of the Copernican theory of the universe, Venetian scientist and politician Paolo Sarpi. The drama plays out against the backdrop of historical religious and political rivalries roiling Europe at the time. But it is the author’s lively, frequently sardonic dialogue (despite Hugh’s quirks in linguistic construction, which are initially challenging) and meticulous attention to the details of fashion, lifestyle, and culinary indulgences that bring the past alive—and paint a scathing indictment of a cruel, devious, and power-hungry papacy. The final chapters, starring Anthony’s twins, signal a likely third installment.

An edgy, engaging mystery with a few intriguing twists.