History meets mystery with a new twist in this raucous, colorful debut novel set in the bustling theatrical world of Shakespeare and Marlowe during the reign of the formidable Elizabeth I. Fast-paced and sprightly, it takes Nick Revill, a young actor in the newly established Chamberlain's Men company at the Globe Theatre in Southwark, to a luxuriously appointed Thameside mansion where a black-clad youth has offered him temporary lodging. Learning upon his arrival that his melancholy host's father has just died and his mother has instantly remarried his uncle, Nick is naturally struck by the similarities between the young man's woeful story of the Eliot family and William Shakespeare's latest play for the Chamberlain's Men-Hamlet. Nick suspects foul play and sets out to discover the circumstances of the old man's death. Already convinced that something is indeed very rotten in the state of the wealthy Eliot household, Nick stumbles upon evidence that proves his host's father did not die a death entirely natural. More disturbingly, the finger of suspicion points toward Southwark, and Nick finds himself investigating his employer, the celebrated playwright and shareholder in the Chamberlain's Men: Mr. William Shakepeare.
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About the Author:
Philip Gooden is the author of the Elizabethan-set Nick Revill murder mystery series and has had his short stories published in many anthologies. He is actively involved with the Crime Writers' Association and contributes to its magazine, Red Herrings. He lives in Bath.
Review:
Highly entertaining * Sunday Times * Another clever criminal plunge into history. * Guardian * The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in the period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale. * Sunday Telegraph. *
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- PublisherCarroll & Graf Pub
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 0786707623
- ISBN 13 9780786707621
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages310
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