FIRE AND EARTH

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.