I liked it well enough for what is was, a novel set in Elizabethan England, about a young Jewish lad, taken under the wing of Elizabeth and given a decent education. He finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery - and we encounter all the usual characters at Court (Essex, Marlowe, Neville, shady Spanish Ambassadors).

However, for me personally, the story fell a bit flat - I felt no connection with the main character, the story was a little long in the tooth, and my attention waivered endlessly. In no hurry to read Books 2 or 3.

This book holds much promise in the first instance and asks the reader to imagine historical events from a fictional perspective, in particular focusing on the law and the stance a fictitious barrister might take around a highly tense and emotional era in history. The barrister in question is Noah Ames, a man himself with a secretive past - that of being a Jew, which has been hidden for the majority of his life and which threatens to be revealed at any moment throughout the text, thereby opening a can of worms that could potentially end his career.
The story itself is interesting and it is easy to engage with the main characters and the overall plot, though the pace and style are less effective and do somewhat mar the overall response to the text - it just simply drags in parts and it becomes a little hard to maintain focus and interest, with the reader having to work to get through it. That said, it is worth persevering throughout to reach the end, but be warned that it will take some determined effort at times.
There is definite interest here for those with a passion for the law, particularly the changes in British law over the years and the storyline takes on real events from history, with a window into possible ways to view those events and a 'what if...' perspective for the reader to consider.
Don't be put off by the fact that this will not necessarily be an easy read throughout and focus on what you can learn instead.