The Spy of Venice is the first novel from Benet Brandreth is a cross between CJ Samson and Shakespeare in Love.
A young Shakespeare joins a group of players on a mission to Venice in the company of a wealthy nobleman on his way to take up an ambassadorial post at the court in Venice. They get attacked on the way and Will is drawn into a web of Venetian intrigue and murder.
Full of interesting historical detail on both the complex political and religious intrigues of the Elizabethan period and the rivalries between Venice and the Papal States.
A real page turner that I couldn’t put down. Hopefully this will be the first of many
4.5/5