Elizabethan Mystery Series by Edward Marston
Elizabethan Mystery #4
The Nine Giants
Edward Marston
Who could enact such a deadly design, lurking behind the scenes?As book holder and stage manager of theatrical company Lord Westfield's Men, Nicholas Bracewell is accustomed to solving problems. So when he discovers the naked corpse of a man while crossing the Thames by boat one night, he becomes determined to unravel its mystery. After several attacks on the company's members, Nicholas begins to suspect a connection - could these apparently accidental events be part of some hidden design?When Lord Westfield's Men are asked to stage one of their comedies at the Nine Giants in Richmond, Nicholas must put aside his worries and focus on the play. But as the attacks become more sinister, culminating in a grisly death, Nicholas is under increasing pressure to prevent more disaster . . .
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Elizabethan Mystery #5
The Mad Courtesan
Edward Marston
Butchery outside a London brothel leaves Westfield’s Men in disarrayWhile England is brought low by rumours of Queen Elizabeth's declining health, celebrated theatre company Lord Westfield's Men suffer their own bitter blows. A vicious feud between players causes chaos; a rival company launches a new production; a mysterious beauty reduces their leading actor to a lovelorn wreck; and a brutal murder leaves the group of actors reeling. With matters so fraught, even a performing horse becomes a threat.Stage manager Nicholas Bracewell, accustomed to damage control, is the only man with the wit to keep the company afloat. As the Queen sinks towards death, Nicholas begins to discern the connections between the company's misfortunes and the larger shadow falling over England . . .
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Elizabethan Mystery #6
The Silent Woman
Edward Marston
When fire destroys their London theatre, Lord Westfield's players must seek out humbler venues in the countryside. But stage manager Nicholas Bracewell is distracted by a shocking tragedy – a mysterious messenger from his native Devon, murdered by poison. Though the messenger is silenced, Nicholas understands what he must do: return to his birthplace and conclude some unfinished business from his past.The rest of Westfield's Men, penniless and dejected, ride forth with him on a tour that will perhaps become their valedictory, dogged as they are by plague, poverty, rogues and thieves. And among the sinister shadows that glide silently with them towards Devon is one who means Nicholas never to arrive . . .
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Elizabethan Mystery #11
The Devil's Apprentice
Edward Marston
Winter, Witchcraft and Devilish DeceitFaced with the austerities of a bitterly cold English winter, the theatre is deserted and Westfield’s Men find themselves out of work. Fortuitously, the company is invited to perform at a country home in Essex; welcome news to the disgruntled players.The company decide it’s the perfect opportunity to trial their new play The Witch of Colchester. However, when the group’s leading actor begins to fall mysteriously ill, the company fear witchcraft might be involved. Then on the performance night, an audience member inexplicably collapses and dies, paving the way for Nicholas Bracewell to uncover the cause of the strange events taking place in Silvermere.From Publishers WeeklyMurder makes a late entrance in Marston's (The Wanton Angel, etc.) 11th Elizabethan adventure, but enough else of interest is going on to keep the reader engaged. The inn yard of the Queen's Head, London, home of Lord Westfield's Men, lies icy, cold and deserted in the wake of a long bitter winter that has left the members of the company unemployed and desperate. When they get the opportunity to perform six plays at the Essex estate of Sir Michael Greenleaf, the leaders of the company are elated. However, there are two conditions: they must accept Davy Stratton, the son of a successful Essex merchant, as an apprentice, and one of the plays that they perform must be entirely new. An interview with young Davy persuades them to accept him, while a new play, The Witch of Rochester, written by a disgruntled lawyer, promises to be a hit. The joy of the company is short-lived as one catastrophe after another threatens to halt their productions. The playwright lawyer becomes belligerent, an avid Puritan attempts to prevent the company from performing in Essex and Davy himself causes more mayhem and havoc than could ever have been anticipated. When a member of the audience drops dead during one of the performances, series hero Nicholas Bracewell determines to seek the truth. Lively characters, meticulous attention to historical detail, humor and wit more than compensate for the plot's slow evolution. (Aug. 20)including The Wildcats of Exeter (Forecasts, Dec. 4, 2000).Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalSeries protagonist Nicholas Bracewell (The Wanton Angel), Elizabethan stage manager, fends off accusations of witchcraft and worse after the troupe performs at a manor house in Essex. A new apprentice taken on there seems to be at the root of the trouble. Lively and entertaining; for fans of Elizabethan historicals. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Elizabethan Mystery #12
The Bawdy Basket
Edward Marston
'You've killed before, I fancy,' he said.'It's my trade.'Theatre troupe Westfield's Men take on a new actor, Francis Quilter, after reaching new heights of success. But with the new member, brings new trouble. Quilter's father, Gerard, is on trial for the murder of an enemy, but he denies the charge and Nicholas Bracewell sets about proving his innocence.However, Bracewell's loyalty to Francis drives a wedge between the players. Who will clear the Quilter family name? On their quest for the truth, they stumble across an unlikely ally, who may just hold the answers they're looking for.
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Elizabethan Mystery #13
The Vagabond Clown
Edward Marston
‘I hoped that we might be safe but we have not seen the last of them, after all. They want more blood.’During a performance of their new play, A Trick to Catch a Chaste Lady, Westfield’s Men are sabotaged, and they find themselves in the throngs of an audience-player melee. In the midst of the rotten-vegetable battlefield, one of the audience members is found stabbed, and their masterful clown, Barnaby Gill, is discovered with a broken leg.With the company clown-less, they must find a replacement before they embark on their tour of Kent. Enter Gideon Mussett, a ruffian, scallywag and all around drunk. Thinking the victim in the theatre was an accident. Nicholas Bracewell and his fellows soon learn that there is more to this death than a drunken brawl. With a murderer still on the loose, it appears further deaths are on the cards, but who will be the second victim?Amazon.com Review"This was no random act of malice," proclaims stage manager Nicholas Bracewell, after an audience brawl disrupts the latest comedic performance by Westfield's Men, in Edward Marston's The Vagabond Clown. If there was any doubt of design behind this affray, it's quickly dispelled by the discovery of a dead spectator in the gallery, Fortunates Hope--stabbed in the back. So who wielded the dagger, and why? Bracewell and the other members of his troupe haven't the time to find out, before they are ousted from their usual stage in Elizabethan London and forced to take to the road for their income, beginning a tour of the Kent countryside that will bring them even more trouble than they could typically find in the English capital.Misfortune is guaranteed when--needing a clown to stand-in for the querulous Barnaby Gill, whose leg was broken during the riot--the company hires his hated but gifted rival, Gideon Mussett. Aware of Mussett's reputation for "drunkenness and truculence," Bracewell wrests from him a pledge to behave. However, this proxy jester proves difficult to handle from the outset, and only becomes more so as his performances gain Westfield's Men acclaim. Among his supposed infractions are several prankish attacks on the injured Gill, who has insisted on traveling with Westfield's Men in order to ensure that Mussett won't try usurping his position. But Bracewell thinks fault for his company's recent adversities may lie, instead, with another, less successful band of thespians who are also traveling through the area, and whose patron knew the murdered Hope. He's convinced of their culpability after Westfield's Men are ambushed on the open road, Gill is threatened with drowning, and Giddy Mussett is assaulted in a stable. Somebody, it appears, is determined to bring the curtain down on Bracewell's band, once and for all.The Nicholas Bracewell novels (of which The Vagabond Clown is the 13th) offer a fulfilling blend of hilarity and heart, romance and mystery. And Marston's flair for capturing both the upright and ribald elements of his Elizabethan setting is to be envied. If there's any disappointment in these pages, it's that a late scene involving a sea chase never achieves the swashbuckling excitement it promises. --J. Kingston PierceFrom Publishers WeeklyEdgar nominee Marston sends in the clowns in his 13th Nicholas Bracewell mystery (after 2002's The Bawdy Basket), once again providing an engaging look at the life of players in Shakespeare's day, with their aristocratic sponsors, resident playwrights, actor-managers and apprentice boys (who played female parts). When a riot and murder (both perhaps engineered by a jealous rival company) during a play performance deprive Westfield's Men of their London venue and cripple their clown, the company seems doomed, but ever-reliable, ever-resourceful Nicholas finds a substitute clown and helps to arrange a tour in Kent. The author vividly evokes the sights, sounds and smells of the taverns, inns, guildhalls and castles visited by the players, each of whom is a distinct personality. He shows how important it was for travelers to have skills as carpenters, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and fighters. The suspense builds, as attacks and delays by clever, ruthless adversaries imperil the company's livelihood and very existence. Excellent as the theater background is, the climax may come as a disappointment to some readers, especially those who appreciate how fervently Catholics held to their faith in Elizabethan times. FYI: Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, who is also the author of The Owls of Gloucester and other titles in his Domesday Book mystery series.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Elizabethan Mystery #14
The Counterfeit Crank
Edward Marston
Alexander Marwood, the cantankerous landlord of the Queen’s Head is away, leaving the Westfield’s Men theatre troupe free to play. Marwood’s replacement, Adam Crowmere, is a welcome change and Westfield’s Men being to dread their landlord’s return.But strange occurrences begin to take place within the company and book holder Nicholas Bracewell fears something sinister is afoot. Then the company’s costumes are stolen from a locked cabinet and they are forced to perform without them. Nick delves deeper into the mysterious events happening around London because for Westfield’s Men, the show must go on.
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