*[Blog Tour Review] The Roots of Betrayal (Clarenceux Trilogy #2) by James Forrester

 

Summary:

 

 1564: Catholic herald William Harley, Clarenceaux King of Arms, is the custodian of a highly dangerous document. When it is stolen, Clarenceaux immediately suspects a group of Catholic sympathisers, the self-styled Knights of the Round Table.
Francis Walsingham, the ruthless protégé of the queen's Principal Secretary, Sir William Cecil, intercepts a coded message from the Knights to a Countess known to have Catholic leanings. He is convinced that Clarenceaux is trying to use the document to advance the cause of the Catholic Queen.
And soon Clarenceaux enters a nightmare of suspicion, deception and conspiracy. Conflict and fear, compounded by the religious doubts of the time, conceal a persistent mystery. Where has the document gone? Who has it and who really took it? And why? The roots of betrayal are deep and shocking: and Clarenceaux's journey towards the truth entails not just the discovery of clues and signs, but also the discovery of himself.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 438 pages (Paperback)

Source: Print Copy for review from Sourcebooks

Available Formats: Print/E-book

Publication Date: May 7th 2013 by Sourcebooks Landmark

 

I loved the first novel in the Clarenceux Trilogy by James Forrester so I when I got the review request for the second novel I just had to say yes. It was my intention to refresh my memory by re-reading the first book in the series again before beginning this one but I never got around to it so my memory of where that book left off is a little fuzzy. Since the book is still so new and I don't want to give any spoilers away I won't go into detail about the plot or characters. Instead I will talk about my general feelings for those aspects of the book.

 

However, just because my memory of book one isn't fresh it didn't enjoy this second installment in the trilogy was just as good as the first. Once again we are swept up into author James Forrester's world of mystery and intrigue against a fabulous historical backdrop.

 

I loved the author's eye for detail. Since the author is in fact a historian his education clearly lends itself to his writing style. You can tell that there was an immense amount of effort to be historically accurate when he needed to be not only with dates, and names of important historical figures but of how life was when The Roots of Betrayal took place. Nothing annoys me more than finding an author that is talking about something like a device or something else that appears in their book but wasn't invented or brought to the time in question until 2 or 3 centuries ahead of the time they're discussing. Luckily, this author isn't one of those.

 

As for the characters, I really liked them all. While I loved how the characters were in the first book of the trilogy, I feel like the author did an even better job with them in The Roots of Betrayal. To me they just seemed as though they were a little more life like and I enjoyed learning about them in this installment.

 

Overall, James Forrester put forth a fantastic sequel and I really enjoyed the fast paced adventure and mystery that was between the covers of Roots of Betrayal. The writing was engaging, the plot was exciting and intricate set against a wonderful historical back drop and the characters were very well developed. I'm so happy that I was able to review this book and I cannot wait to see how this trilogy wraps up.

 

I would recommend this novel to fans that have read the first novel in the series Sacred Treason and I would recommend those who haven't begun this fantastic series yet to do so immediately. If you love historical fiction, historical mysteries and books set in the 1300's this might just be your next read.

 

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my free and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.

 

I read this book for the following reading challenges:

 

2013 150+ Reading Challenge

2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

2013 Around the World Challenge

2013 Mystery/Crime Reading Challenge

 

 

Loved It!
★ ★ ★★★

 

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