Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

The year is 1586 and the setting is Elizabethian England with the incessant and often violent struggles between Catholics and Protestants ongoing. Red-haired Caistor Parons is, to the uneducated eye, just an orphan but he has been appointed to be Assistant Secretary to Queen Elizabeth's Lord Burghley. Simon Parsons, caregiver to Caistor and his twin sister Hannah, has been murdered and his last words to Caistor are "Gingerbread man (Caistor's nickname) must be sure of his faith before he searches for his origins and the ring." Caistor is curious about his parentage but Lord Burgley warns him that if he keeps seeking the truth, his life will be in danger as well as the lives of those around him. Caistor is mystified by this admonition. Then people he contacts, such as Matthew Curling, are murdered. Caistor's good friend, Sir Rupert Pemberton, and many others tell Caistor he'll know more "when the time is ripe" but what does this mean?

"Caistor Parsons - The Gingerbread Man" is a brilliantly written, edited and formatted work of historical fiction. It takes actual people and events from the time of Queen Elizabeth I and weaves this story of Caistor and Hannah Parsons into the fabric of the failed Babington Plot, Mary, Queen of Scots' trial and execution, and Queen Elizabeth and her Court. And the weaving of Caistor Parsons into actual history is so very well-done that all characters, real and fictional, come to life and are totally believable. The plot proceeds with first-rate suspense until the story's end and the reader will read with anticipation as Caistor comes closer and closer to the truth of his ancestry. Wow! Recommended for all lovers of historical fiction.