Welcome to Day 2 of the SECRETS, SPIES &
SHERLOCK BLOG TOUR, featuring two exciting new middle grade mystery
series: Sherlock, Lupin
& Me: The Dark Lady by Irene Adler and Secrets & Spies:
Treason by Jo Macauley. Each stop on the 2-week tour will feature fun
posts and a chance to win a set of finished copies of the books! Today’s post
features Treason
by Jo Macauley.
Fact
and Fiction in Treason
Treason is set during a particularly
tumultuous time in English history, after civil wars had led to the beheading
of Charles I, allowing the militant Puritan Oliver Cromwell to rule the country
for 18 years before Charles II was restored to the throne. In the first year of
the Restoration, Cromwell was posthumously convicted of treason, disinterred,
hanged and beheaded. Since then his head has passed from hand to hand, and to
this day only a handful of people in the world know where it is. In
Treason, Beth Johnson, a young actress and spy, must race
against the clock in this climate of fear and bloodlust to prevent the
assassination of the newly reinstated
King.
Though the assassination plot at the heart of
Treason is fictional, there were several real conspiracies
raging during this time. In 1678, the Popish Plot, a fake
conspiracy created by Titus Oates, came about due to strong anti-Catholic
feelings amongst the mostly Protestant English public. Oates accused the
Catholic Church of endorsing Charles II’s assassination, and named a hundred
supporters allegedly involved in the plot. Oates claimed that the plot included
several possible methods of murder — ranging from stabbing to poisoning by the
queen’s doctor.
The
conspiracy truly started gaining ground with the murder of Sir Edmund Berry
Godfrey, a member of Parliament who supported Protestantism. His murder was
quickly blamed on the Catholics, and the hysteria rose to truly astounding
levels. Noblewomen carried guns when they went outside at night, houses were
forcibly searched for weapons and some Catholic widows tried to protect
themselves by marrying Anglican men. Anyone suspected of being Catholic was
driven out of London, and rumors started to spread as people began making up
their own wild conspiracy theories. It soon became a manhunt to rival that of
the Salem Witch Trials a few decades
later
Eventually, the panic began to die down when no
assassination attempts were made, and Oates was later tried for perjury,
sentenced to life imprisonment, being whipped through London twice, and
pilloried every year (otherwise known as being thrown in the stocks). To this
day, no one is sure who killed Godfrey, and there is no evidence that any of
the accusations made by Oates were true — the alleged Popish Plot was purely
fictional, yet it was not until the early 19th century that most of the
anti-Catholic laws enacted during this period were
overthrown.
In 1683, an actual assassination plot arose.
The Rye House Plot was a conspiracy to assassinate Charles
II and his brother James, the heir to the throne. The Popish Plot had led to
the creation of the Exclusion Bill, which would prevent James from ascending
the throne after Charles, and those in opposition to the restored monarchy were
planning to incite a rebellion against the King. However, Charles dissolved
Parliament, leaving his opposition with no legal way to prevent James’
succession. As a result, the Rye House Plot was hatched. Rye House was a
fortified medieval mansion surrounded by a moat north of London. The plot was a
simple one: the leaders planned to hide a group of men in the house, and then
ambush Charles and his brother as they passed by on their way back to London
from the horse races. The King was expected to arrive on April 1, but a major
fire cancelled the races and he made the journey early — inadvertently
thwarting the plot before it could even
begin.
Enter below to win a copy of Treason
and see if Beth and her fellow spies get off so easily when she uncovers
another deadly plot against the King, as well as a copy of The Dark Lady by
Irene Adler!
About Sherlock, Lupin & Me: The Dark Lady by Irene Adler:
While on summer vacation, little
Irene Adler meets a young William Sherlock Holmes. The two share stories
of pirates and have battles of wit while running wild on the sunny
streets
and rooftops. When Sherlock's friend, Lupin, joins in on the fun, they
all become fast friends. But the good times end abruptly when a dead
body floats ashore on the nearby beach. The young detective trio will
have to put all three of their heads together
to solve this mystery.
About Secrets & Spies: Treason by 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?
***Stop by Buried in
Books tomorrow for the next stop on the SECRETS, SPIES
& SHERLOCK BLOG TOUR and another chance to
win!***
Secrets,
Spies & Sherlock Blog Tour
Schedule:
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