Venice, 1539. When Aldo learns of a conspiracy to assassinate Duke Cosimo de Medici, ruler of Florence, he’s hired to help protect him, but after the attack fails, there’s a twist: Someone used the distraction to steal the Duke’s private journal, full of incendiary political secrets that threaten the very fabric of society. Now Aldo must find it and get it back in time… Or face banishment. The trail leads to Venice, a place he swore never to return to, and the plot may involve the beautiful and deadly Contessa Coltello.

I’m really enjoying this series of books. They’re often set in Florence, but some are an “away game”, like this one. This is book 5 in the series, and has more of a thriller or espionage plot, where most of the earlier ones were mysteries, though the political is always part of it, because of life in Italy in the era. I think that you could read this as a standalone novel, though I do think it’s more enjoyable if you’ve read the previous ones.

Reading this, we get to spend more time with Contessa Coltello, who the author has said (in his excellent newsletter about writing) is inspired somewhat by Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons. She’s appeared before as a scheming, beautiful woman who fences secrets and information as a spy master in Florence, with her ties in Venice. She’s a bit of a foil to Aldo. She’s an equal to him in intelligence and cunning, but perhaps more ruthless. And she’s fun. She’s vibrant and sexy and does not care. She loves danger and a beautiful outfit. I really enjoy her sparring with Aldo and their calculated exchanges.

This being set in Venice, she’s a familiar face, but we don’t get to spend much time with our other usual cast of characters. There’s a little bit of Aldo and Saul, and I love their romance. There’s something so honest about it but also poignant and a little tragic, since they have to hide so much. (Being gay in this era was no joke) What we do get instead is a little more insight into Aldo’s past: why he vowed never to return to Venice, a past lover and their story and also some more about his childhood and a family secret comes to light that’s a wonderful little cliffhanger teaser at the end. There’s also John Of Scotland, a mercenary that knows Aldo, and is delightfully exotic as an outsider in Italy. I liked him.

As a historical espionage thriller, this is a really good, well paced story. There’s intrigue and adventure and twists and turns. There’s the fact that Aldo can’t swim and has a fear of water, which is funny because he’s such a tough, resilient person and great foreshadowing. The world of Venice is beautiful and so detailed, and the delicate balance and court intrigues of the world at the time are fascinating.

I did find some of the plot points in the ending were a little convenient for our hero. Not far fetched exactly, but a little too easy? It didn’t spoil anything for me and I think thrillers often have these little things, so it’s OK. I also love the mystery plots of this series, so while this one was really good and an adventure, it’s not my favorite of the series as a whole, but is is a solid entry in the series and allows the Aldo stories to be flexible and not become something with a predictable format.

Read It If: For fans of the series, another solid entry. For fans of historical fiction or Italian history, why are you not already reading this series? I’m already looking forward to the next one.

Thank you to PGC Books for the copy of this book for review.