Venetian

The Venetian series follows English swordsman Richard Hughes and Philip de Chambray through the ceremonial splendour and concealed violence of early modern Venice. Opera, Carnevale, diplomacy and intellectual dissent create a public culture of invention while criminal organisations and foreign agents use the city’s masks and waterways for their own purposes.

Richard’s work as a fencing master and Philip’s refusal to accept the identity society assigns them bring the pair into investigations that cross class and political boundaries. Each novel combines murder mystery with espionage, showing how private crimes can reveal struggles linking Venice to the Vatican, France and the wider European balance of power.