THE INTELLIGENCER

TITLE: THE INTELLIGENCER
AUTHOR: LESLIE SILBERT
Pages: 330
Date: 09/02/2009
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 1 Kate Morgan Thriller
Library

This was a fascinating novel, set both in the late 1600's and in the present time.
In the present, Kate Morgan is a private eye working for a firm that doubles as an unofficial U.S secret service agency. She is called in when a mysterious and centuries old manuscript is found and almost stolen. her job is to find out what secrets the manuscript holds and who is so desperate to get their hands on it.
She has another assignment too; to find out what an enigmatic arts dealer bought from an Iranian intelligence officer. She is unaware that the first investigation might kill her while the second could break her heart.
The manuscript of the first investigation concerns the various networks of spies during Elizabeth 1st reign, and in deciphering the documents Kate and the reader get an insight into the final days of Christopher Marlowe, famous playwright and suspected spy, who was killed in 1593.
Both stories in this book are thrilling and intriguing. And the fact that I had the modern day villain pinpointed fairly early on didn't matter at all since there were several other mysteries which reminded just that until the very end.
This book was published in 2004, and although a second Kate Morton book was promised, no publication date has been announced yet. I do hope the sequel will come, and sooner rather than later.