The Incendium Plot, A.D. Swanston

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher *

Author: A.D. Swanston
Publisher: Corgi
Pages: 416
Format: DRC
ISBN-10: 0552172383
ISBN-13: 9780552172387
Original title: Incendium
Series: Christopher Radcliff #1

England in 1572 is a powder keg of rumour, fanaticism, treachery and dissent. All it would take is a single spark . . .
In the England of Elizabeth I, the fear of plague and invasion, and the threat of insurrection are constant. As the Earl of Leicester's chief intelligencer, lawyer Dr Christopher Radcliff is tasked with investigating rumours of treachery at home and the papist threat from abroad. And with heresy and religious unrest simmering beneath the surface of a country on the brink, Radcliff is under pressure to get results.
Then two brutal and seemingly motiveless killings point alert Radcliff to the whisper of a new plot against the queen. There are few clues, and all he and his network of agents have to go on is a single word: incendium. But what does it mean - and who lies behind it? Christopher Radcliff must find out before it's too late . . .

I enjoyed Christopher a lot. He is a fun character, witty but very serious when it comes to his job. He is building a lot on intuition though which is not always explained. This makes it hard to puzzle along.
This book is filled with names. It is always the thing with books in that time period and I did mix up a few characters at some point making the story confusing as one was on the good side and the other on the bad. The time line is a bit confusing too. A question is asked and whole months pass in time before an answer is given but it is the next chapter in the book and not always made clear how much time has actually passed. It made me wonder what people were doing during those months and did disturb the reading process as I first had to find out how much further in the year we were.
I did not stop reading though despite quite a few frustrations I had with this book. There is something in this story that made me want to get to the end. It is easy to cheer for Christopher and I just had to know if he would manage to solve the mystery.