When I completed reading James C. Ferguson’s first novel, Context Clues, I imagined the late Peter Seller would be the perfect actor to play the role of the principal protagonist, Basil Coventry.

Coventry is a bungling spy, who perhaps would like to be another Colombo or James Bond, if they were in existence during this era. Unfortunately, however, his faculties are perpetually impaired by alcohol, or to put it bluntly-he is in a continuous state of inebriation.

The story begins at the end of the 16th century in England. When we first meet Coventry, we are informed that he is an agent in the employ of England’s intelligence service under the direction of Francis Walsingham. “He was supposed to be someone who could think quickly and clearly, in times of calm, as well as extreme duress. His life, not to mention the lives of countless others, including none other than Queen Elizabeth I, depended on it.”

Unfortunately, when given an assignment by his superior, Reginald Roxbury, Coventry is not quite sure what to make of it. Fearful of asking his superior to repeat the instructions, Coventry acknowledges that he fully grasps what is expected of him.

The evidence that was given to Coventry consisted of a sack containing a skull, bones, a rolled parchment map and a spy kit. When presented with the map, his immediate response was: What is this man talking about? What map? To where? And Who-?

Coventry sets off from London to Northampton to solve a crime that he has no idea what it is all about and is constantly meeting up with all kinds of characters and getting lost. At one time, he is even buried alive by some strangers who believed he was dead. Apparently, as the author mentions, “those who lived in Elizabethan England did not understand the terms dead or alive with the degree of accuracy we do today.”

Throughout the novel, that sometimes reads like a soap opera, the author uses a great deal of imagination to describe his main protagonist. This is how he initially describes Coventry: “ Basil Coventry was a middle-aged piece of cooked but forgotten tagliarini-limp and cold-with eyes that blinked in slow motion, whether he was intoxicated or not. His most distinguishing feature was a mangy mop of thick black seaweed perched, slightly askew, at the top of his head, with additional, equally askew colonies both and above his lips.”

Unfortunately, however, I found Context Clues too busy and causing me to having to re-read paragraphs. I also found the endless descriptions of Coventry to be often somewhat tiring. That said, the author shows a great deal of promise and I look forward to reading him in the future.