Tudor 'tryhard' assassin Jack Blackjack strikes again!
Missed Murder, A: A Tudor Mystery (A Bloody Mary Mystery #3)
by Michael Jecks
Let's face it, Jack Blackjack is a survivor! An ex cut purse who's risen up in the world (somewhat), always with an eye to the main chance. Luck seems to land him on his feet but the path is nearly always painful and confusing. Jack's attitudes to women leave a lot to be desired. The only saving grace is that he's frequently out smarted by some of them. Perhaps if he lifted his head from lavishing his gaze at their chests he'd have more of an inkling as to what's happening around him.
Yes, Jack is your ultimate anti-hero! Still his bumblings seem to land him on his feet, although more often than not, with a body bruised, broken and damaged. (Think a tad Blaxkadder).
Jecks has us wandering through the London of Bloody Mary at the time of her marriage to King Phillip of Spain. Admittedly we visit the less salubrious parts of London--along the Thames, in very suspect alehouses complete with their disgusting waste pits, narrow alleyways and broken down houses, all accompanied by a palpable stench that leaches off the pages.
So Spaniards litter the plot of this Tudor mystery, along with the hovering, menacing presence of Jack's nemesis and employer John Blount. (And how Jack, who doesn't have the stomach to kill a fly ends up as Blount's paid assassin is another story of chance and mischance.)
This time Jack is to kill one Jeffry of Shoreditch. Of course the best laid plans go awry, with a convoluted pathway to success littered with botched happenings, unwholesome characters and lurking spies, not to mention the duped innocent.
I have a love hate relationship with Jack but have come to appreciate the situations he finds himself in, and the way he just always misses what's right under his nose. The title is a telling point in hand.
A NetGalley ARC
****
by Michael Jecks
Yes, Jack is your ultimate anti-hero! Still his bumblings seem to land him on his feet, although more often than not, with a body bruised, broken and damaged. (Think a tad Blaxkadder).
Jecks has us wandering through the London of Bloody Mary at the time of her marriage to King Phillip of Spain. Admittedly we visit the less salubrious parts of London--along the Thames, in very suspect alehouses complete with their disgusting waste pits, narrow alleyways and broken down houses, all accompanied by a palpable stench that leaches off the pages.
So Spaniards litter the plot of this Tudor mystery, along with the hovering, menacing presence of Jack's nemesis and employer John Blount. (And how Jack, who doesn't have the stomach to kill a fly ends up as Blount's paid assassin is another story of chance and mischance.)
This time Jack is to kill one Jeffry of Shoreditch. Of course the best laid plans go awry, with a convoluted pathway to success littered with botched happenings, unwholesome characters and lurking spies, not to mention the duped innocent.
I have a love hate relationship with Jack but have come to appreciate the situations he finds himself in, and the way he just always misses what's right under his nose. The title is a telling point in hand.
A NetGalley ARC
****
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