A Clash of Spheres: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery

Chisholm’s intricately plotted eighth Sir Robert Carey mystery (after 2014’s Chorus of Innocents) finds the English courtier on the Scottish border in late August 1592, charged with bringing order and ending the bloody feuds between the Scottish Catholic lords and their Protestant counterparts. Various parties, many of them historical personages, vie for influence over Elizabeth I’s heir, James VI of Scotland. The spheres of the title refer not only to spheres of influence—political, religious, and personal—but also to the celestial spheres. A climactic chapter features a debate between supporters of the Earth-centered Ptolemaic system and advocates of the rival Copernican system. Chisholm does a good job illuminating the quandary felt by many when new scientific discoveries challenged the old religion. Loyal to his queen and his conscience, Carey proves an able statesman in an installment full of adventure and intrigue, although light on conventional sleuthing. (Apr.)