We saw Shake­speare in the Park’s production of Twelfth Night at Seward Park last week, which prompted me to re-read this book.

Fifteen years ago, Theophilos, an agent of the Fool’s Guild, then working in his guise as Feste the Jester, initiated the events roughly described in Shake­speare’s play, and foiled Saladin’s agent, Malvolio. Now the duke of Orsino is dead under suspicious cir­cum­stances, and Theo goes back, disguised as a German merchant.

Theo is witty, quick-witted, and po­lit­i­cal­ly astute, making for an engaging narrator of this medieval mystery.