I don't often rate books at a full five stars but I had been looking for a good historical series now that there won't be any more Shardlake novels and this seems to be it.

Master Mercurius is a Protestant cleric in the Netherlands in the 17th century, writing his secret memoirs and looking back to his early thirties when he was tasked to travel to Delft and solve the disappearance of three eight year old girls, one of whom has been found buried. There he interacts with various people, including the mothers of two of the girls from working class families - one a single parent looked down on for having had her child outside marriage - and the father of the last child abducted, a wealthy and unpopular merchant. He meets and works with a local artist - I was delighted to recognise Vermeer, painter of 'Girl with a Pearl Earring ' - and a draper who is a part time scientist. I looked him up while reading the novel and discovered that he was an early pioneer of microbiology. Both of these real historical characters are vividly portrayed and come across as living people on the page.

Mercurius is aware of the ambiguities of human life and morality, especially because he is also a secret Catholic and, even more dangerous for him, an ordained priest. The Low Countries, as they are known, seem more tolerant than many other lands in that period, because Catholics can worship in their own churches providing they keep everything low key but they are still discriminated against as is made clear through Vermeer, who converted to Catholism in order to marry into a Catholic family. Mercurius has been tasked by his bishop to be a secret pillar of the church in the event of the country one day returning to Catholism, but would be in a lot of trouble if this was found out and I sense that losing his position as a university lecturer would be the least of it. In the meantime, he faces the awkwardness of people trying to pair him off with potential wives when he is obliged to remain celibate.

The landscape of Delft is well pictured, as are the living conditions for the various classes. The narrative is nicely tinged with a humorous self deprecation and wry wit. Altogether I enjoyed the book and have no hesitation in rating it as a five star read. ( )

Good historical mystery with a very interesting main character who has lots of depth. ( )

The excellent main character meets Van Leeuwenhoek and Vermeer in Delft and they collaborate in resolving the puzzling disappearance of three 8-year-old girls. A lot of frustration and factfinding for the Master in this very religiously stressed period of history. ( )

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW

17th century Holland is a place and period I know little about, which made this book appealing. Master Mercurius is an engaging character. An ordained catholic priest (in secret) who is simultaneously an ordained protestant priest, Mercurius is faced with some unique dilemmas. This rather naive university lecturer is sent to Delft to investigate the disappearance of three young girls, one of whom has been found dead.

I enjoyed the book and would like to read more by Graham Brack, but I may choose to read rather than listen. Though the narrator has a pleasant voice and is able to give different characters appropriate voices, i found his delivery too repetitive in intonation. There would be a whole sequence of sentences read with the same pitch and lift at the end. It felt as if I was listening to a shopping list. I also felt that there was a lot more humour in the text than came over in the narration.

Overall 4 stars
Narrator 3 stars
Story 5 stars ( )

Loved it! Although there is a crime to be solved at the core, the true enjoyment of the book comes from the descriptions of 17th century Delft and, even more so, the characters.

Brack has woven into the story a number of historical figures, great and small. Chief among them are the artist Vermeer and the scientist/inventor Leeuwenhoek, each of whom is presented on the basis of his genius and his personality, and each of whom assists Master Mercurius as he attempts to resolve the disappearance/murder of 3 young girls.

Mercurius is a fascinating character in his own right. Nominally a Protestant minister/academic, known to be quite clever, he is secretly also a Catholic priest. This condition creates interesting opportunities in terms of plot development as well as much self-reflection, often quite ironic. One of my favorites:

“I was beginning to wonder whether there were any loopholes in the vow of chastity that a clever bit of casuistry could squeeze me through. I must find a Jesuit, I thought; they are always good at that kind of thing.”

The only downside to reading this for me was that it wasn't available in an audio version and I've been hard pressed to find time to read in print lately. Of course, the flip side of that is that by reading on the Kindle app I was able to quickly research people, places and terms that were new to me.

Rating this compared with other historical mysteries, I give it a solid 5 stars.

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