TOM WALSINGHAM

Full Name:	Tom Walsingham
Nationality:	British
Organization:	British Intelligence
Occupation	Agent

Creator:	C. P. Giuliani
Time Span:	2022 - 2024

ABOUT THE SERIES

Tom Walsingham is an agent with British Intelligence.

Since the year we first encounter him is 1581, there is no established department by that or any other name in Her Majesty's government tasked with intelligence gathering both internally and externally. There most decidedly exists the need for one since the Queen's enemies are many and several of them are quite powerful. The nations of the Netherlands and France and Spain would all love to take from England anything they can and inside the island nation are scores of angry Catholic citizens who would prefer a Papist on the throne.

Helping to keep the status quo is the monarch's personal Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, who in addition to his many duties in his public job has taken on the unspoken role of Royal Spymaster. Over a good number of years he has extended his figurative tentacles through the Kingdom and well into Europe and his clandestine eyes and ears keep him very well informed.

One of his many agents is also one of Sir Francis' favorites, a fairly distant much younger cousin named Tom Walsingham. For the past two years, since the young man was just turning 17, he has been in close training and has shown considerable potential. So much so that on our first encounter, he has been given a solo mission of some importance.

Importance is a noun not previously used very often with young Walsingham though not through any failings on his personal part. He was a third son and as such was out of the running for any inheritance, if there was any to begin with. His prospects were hardly any better, at least until Sir Francis took a liking to him and brought him in to begin training him in clandestine services. What neither Sir Francis nor Tom would have thought of was the fact that the teenage daughter of Sir Francis would have taken her own form of interest in Tom and vice versa.

Young Tom will prove himself a very effective operative though being new to the trade he will make mistakes and occasionally put his trust in those not deserving of it. He will be smart and clever enough to overcome his errors.

BOOKS

Number of Books:	4
First Appearance:	2022
Last Appearance:	2024


1			The Road To Murder Written by C. P. Giuliani Copyright: 2022 The year is 1581. Thomas Walsingham is the 19-year-old cousin of Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, and is thrilled to be given the job of confidential courier, carrying messages between London and Paris for that illustrious man. He is given a double-duty assignment of carrying confidential instructions to the English ambassador in Paris while escorting a noted British glove-maker heading to the French royal court. Then they are waylaid, the glove-maker killed and the confidential papers stolen. Determined to learn who was behind it, Walsingham will come to realize there is so much more at play and the safety of his monarch is in peril.

2			A Treasonous Path Written by C. P. Giuliani Copyright: 2022 The year is 1583. Tom Walsingham is living in London being trained by his cousin, the spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. They get word that someone is sending to letters to the French ambassador claiming to have bribed that man's secretary to pass on sensitive intel. The matter is said to be in connection with France and Mary, Queen of Scots. When someone close to the ambassador is murdered, Tom is sent to investigate the whole matter.

3			Death In Rheims Written by C. P. Giuliani Copyright: 2023 The year is 1585. Tom Walsingham is being sent to France to investigate the suspicious death of an informant of his cousin, spymaster Sir Francis. The matter deals with an English college in the town of Rheims, a place of learning for Catholic exiles who would love to find a way to unseat Queen Elizabeth.

4			A Deadly Complot Written by C. P. Giuliani Copyright: 2024 The year is 1586. "Tom Walsingham has been tasked with keeping watch over the network of spies recruited by his spymaster cousin, Sir Francis Walsingham. After intercepting a series of letters sent to and from Chartley Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots has been imprisoned, the spies have infiltrated a ring of Catholic plotters. Led by the zealous Anthony Babington, the conspirators plan to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with Mary, thus restoring Catholicism to the realm. With most of the plotters under careful observation, the spies have only to wait for the right moment to have them arrested. However, when one of Tom’s couriers — Isaac Finch — goes missing, it seems that Babington’s conspirators may suspect that they have informers in their midst. Fearing that Finch may have been forced to reveal the spies’ plans, Tom vows to find out who killed him."

MY COMMENTS

Now and then I enjoy dropping back a long way in time with a historical espionage adventure series. There have been a few really good ones and those seem to usually include Queen Elizabeth I's famous (or notorious) Private Secretary and Spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham.

This one does as well but gives us a neat twist in that the hero, young Tom, is a nephew of the famous man. Uncle is still portrayed, as seems the norm, as a ruthless taskmaster who will use anything and anyone to protect the Queen and Country. Now it is his own relation that he puts consistently to the test.

And author C. P. Giuliani pulls it off wonderfully.

GRADE

My Grade: B+

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