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Book Review By Susan Coffey
The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert

Kate Morgan is a private investigator and former Rennaisance scholar with two mysteries to solve. The first involves a manuscript found by a wealthy Britisher in his new home in Belgravia London. It is titled "Anatomy of Secrets" and appears to be a collection of documents in code from the Elizabethan era. Kate traces this to a man called Phellipes, an assistant to Francis Walsingham, spy for Queen Elizabeth the 1st. This document reveals information about the spying activities of Christopher Marlowe, a rival of Shakespeare who was murdered under mysterious circumstances.

The second is for her employer, the Slade corporation which also works secretly for the CIA. An independently wealthy art collector is receiving large sums of money from a man high up in Iran's intelligence agency. Kate needs to find out if the sale of weapons is involved.

This story combines the current day mystery with an Elizabethan one. It offers a creative explanation for the events around Marlowe's murder. Kate discovers how this hundreds year old mystery is important to a contemporary character. Her investigation of the art collector leads to a suprisingly personal connection.   


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 %

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - Italy

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Explicit sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - descript. of breasts
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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