Heresy

Heresy by S.J. Parris  435 pp.

This mystery-thriller takes an actual  person, the excommunicated ex-monk Girodano Bruno, as it's main character. As in his real life, Bruno spends much of his life on the run from the Inquisition and eventually lands in England to work for Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster for Queen Elizabeth I. In the novel Bruno is sent to Lincoln College, Oxford to snoop out a Catholic plot against Elizabeth's rule and ends up investigating three murders within the College. He ultimately finds his life once again in danger from the militant Catholics. This book has a good blend of history and fiction in a riveting story.