This is the second Tudor thriller featuring Giordano Bruno, an Italian "monk, scientist, philosopher, and magician" and excommunicated heretic. Although his biography sounds exotic, Bruno was in fact a historical figure. His lively adventures in 16th-century Oxford were the basis of Heresy, the first novel in the series, pseudonymously written by Stephanie Merritt, a former editor on these pages.

Now, in Prophesy, it is 1583, the year of the Great Conjunction – a celestial meeting of Jupiter and Saturn – and Elizabeth I is on the throne. Incendiary pamphlets and apocalyptic scenarios are rife and behind the scenes the Catholic aristocracy is conspiring to install Mary Stuart at England's helm. Bruno, living at the French ambassador's residence in London – while passing on information to Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster of the Queen – is well placed to watch a plot unfold, starting with the murder of one of the queen's maids. Cecily Ashe has been strangled and carved into her chest is the sign of Jupiter. When a second maid is murdered the tension ratchets up.

The narrative is peppered with historical cameos: Sir Philip Sidney, Lord Burghley and the Earl of Leicester all make appearances. One of the most vivid scenes is set at Elizabeth's court and the regal cameo is the novel's high point: "[Elizabeth] is not beautiful, but in her face is a refinement that goes beyond beauty, a look of purpose and self-possession that makes beauty seem trivial." An uncommon amount of time is spent in grand libraries and the Tudor publishing scene is represented sparklingly, almost as if it were a modern London media clique.

Prophesy is a quirky mix of ancient fact and modern mores; present-day colloquialisms wink in a postmodern manner at the reader. The cross-genre blend of serial killer and historical fiction is a bold one: CJ Sansom has already achieved success within it and Prophecy boasts similarly fast-paced, densely plotted thrills.