Treason (Secrets & Spies #1)

Jo Macauley
Fourteen-year-old Beth Johnson is a talented and beautiful young actress. She is also a spy. The year is 1664, and Charles II is on the throne, but all is not well in the bustling city of London, and there are those who would gladly kill the king and destroy the Monarchy. One morning, a mysterious ghost ship drifts up the Thames. Sent to investigate by the King’s Master of Secrets, Alan Strange, Beth quickly finds herself embroiled in a dangerous adventure. Will Beth be able to unravel the plot to kill the King before it’s too late?
Amazing! This book is very good for historical fiction novel devourers like me! So it’s 1664 and Beth is an actress at a theatre in London and a spy. She has been waiting for a while to get a good spying assignment and hopes that solving puzzles will help. The only problem is her arch enemy Benjamin Lovett is used to having the women parts in the plays but since the law changed, every theatre now needs a woman actor.
Being a spy is good, but that big assignment just hasn’t come yet and Beth is wondering if her Spymaster (Alan Strange) really doesn’t want her after all. So when she gets a call from him she rushes there to see what he wants. Her heart sinks as she gets assigned a ghost ship.
Meanwhile, John and his close friend William also go to investigate this Ghostship as he is a small junior Clerk and seeks adventure. Will disappears on the ship mysteriously, John is left alone. One day a pretty girl (aka Beth) turns up and asks him about the ship. Better together, they team up with a back street pickpocket and uncover the 2nd great gunpowder plot!
Will they save the king, rescue Will and warn everyone before it’s too late?
This book is very good and if you like historical novels this is definitely for you. This book is in the same genre as the ‘My Story’ series, although in my opinion not quite as good, but that is a lot to live up too! Definitely still worth a read though. I read this book in 4 hours and it was very good. Check out the others in the series: plague, inferno and New World.
Verdict: A very good book but may only appeal to a small age bracket (12-13 years)
Reviewed by Daisy (12)