Book Review: Shakespeare's Spy

Book: Shakespeare's Spy (The Shakespeare Stealer book #3) by Gary Blackwood

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Things are disappearing mysteriously from Will Shakespeare's acting company, and it looks like an inside job. Everyone's eyes are on Widge, the orphan boy turned actor, and former thief. Widge knows better than anyone that Shakespeare's plays must be protected at all costs. In order to prove his innocence and clear his name, Widge must learn a new role: spy. But can he dig through the suspects and skulduggery and catch the true culprit?



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Shakespeare's Spy is a really fascinating story, set during the Elizabethan times, it centers around Widge, an orphan boy who is an apprentice actor with William Shakespeare's company, Lord Chamberlain's Men. Despite the long days spent rehearsing and appearing in plays, Widge enjoys being an actor.

However, the unexpected arrival of Shakespeare's daughter Judith, may have inspired two new loves for Widge. First was his crush on Judith and second was his new found interest in play writing. His anguish and stress over his crush and trying to write were overshadowed by finding out that he was accused of stealing from his acting company as well as being a spy for a rival acting company.

It's true, there is a thief and a spy but Widge knows it's not him and plans to find out who is really targeting the company. There is a really great twist to this part of the story that truly works to Widge's skills.

For some reason, I have a tendency to buy books out of order, I had no idea this was the third and final book in the series when I bought it. Thankfully, the way this book is written, it's easy to follow along and didn't make me feel like I should have read the two previous books (which I still want to read).

I do believe the description to be a tad misleading because although the story does involve a bit of a mystery, the majority of the story centers around Widge's life at the orphanage and the theatre and his friends. I think Widge is an interesting character because earlier in his life, it was a bit sketchy with him having to steal but somehow he found a new life in the theatre. I'm really going to have to read the first two books to see how he turned his life around.

I thought the author did a great job of incorporating historical events and people (such as the plague, Queen Elizabeth and more) within the story. This was a wonderfully engaging, fast-paced read.