Books for/about - Westfield

The Malevolent Comedy: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell (Nicholas Bracewell)

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Authors: Edward Marston

ISBN: 0312342837
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Summary: Murder in Elizabethan Times
Edward Marston's latest Tudor mystery pits his hero, Nicholas Bracewell, against an unseen foe, apparently determined to bring Lord Westfield's men, the acting troupe, to their knees. One difficulty after another arises, and suspicions turn gradually to the new playwright, whose personality leaves much to be desired. A cute subplot revolves around the actors' attempts to rouse the group's house playwright by playing matchmaker. I thoroughly enjoyed Marston's ability to transport the reader to another time and place. If mysteries be the music of escape, play on! Procure a copy of The Malevolent Comedy, and fall under the author's enchantment.

Summary: The Malevolent Comedy
Another enjoyable story of Westfield's Men and Nicholas Bracewell sovling mysteries in Elizabethan England. The pace, the plot and the descriptions of Tudor England are still as fresh as with the first novel in the series. I thoroughly enjoy anything by Marston (Doherty).

Summary: The Malevolent Comedy is not so funny!
The latest "Elizabethan theater Mystery featuring Nicholas Bracewell" by Edward Marston comes with no surprises and certainly nothing new in plot or character development. It's Marston, tried and true.

The author, who doesn't write under any known pseudonyms, is well respected in the genre and, in addition to the Bracewell series, writes the Domesday Book episodes, equally engrossing and well researched. Like his UK colleague Paul Doherty (who does write under a number of other names), his historical takes are absorbing!

In "The Malevolent Comedy" we find Marston's stable (and staple) formula: the nasty landlord, his equally nasty wife, the tempestuous Lawrence Firethorn (great actor that he is), Edmund Hoode (once again, "losing his Muse"), Barnaby Gill (the obnoxious gay clown), Richard Honeydew (the sweet young boy who plays the lead female roles), the trademark kidnappings (of course), etc., and, because it's a murder mystery, at least one body (usually a member of the cast). And, naturally, Lord Westfield's Men (their company)in their intense rivalry with Banbury's Men is on the verge of losing (a) their reputation, (b) their license, (c) their theatre, etc. Yes, you've read this in all the Nicholas Bracewell stories.

Still, despite the fact that not much is new in this book, this series is well worth the read. I haven't missed a one and recommend this one heartily. I wish Mr. Marston would give us something new, but until he does I'll continue to read the series.

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	The Princess of Denmark: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Authors: Edward Marston
ISBN: 0312356188 List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $16.47 Not yet published Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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	Suspension: A Novel (P.S.) Publisher: Harper Perennial Authors: Robert Westfield
ISBN: 0060741376 List Price: $13.95 Amazon Price: $10.74 Not yet published Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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The Vagabond Clown: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell

Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Authors: Edward Marston

ISBN: 0312307896
List Price: $24.95
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Summary: Marston sends in the clowns!
"The Vagabond Clown" is the latest in the Edward Marston series ("An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell") and the author continues to maintain his
flair for the dramatic!

Once again, Westfield's Men, in which Nicholas is the stagemanager "and all around performer of miracles," find themselves in a lot of trouble! Owing to a devastating
brawl during one of their performances at the Queen's Head Inn, the troupe has to exit stage out-of-town, as so much damage has been done to the Inn and their stage proprieties,
there is nothing left for them but to head to Kent to recoup their losses. A major injury to the players is that Barnaby Gill, their erstwhile clown, was injured (a broken leg) in the
melee.

Alas, during said brawl a young man is found dead in the bleachers, a dagger sticking out of his back. Nick and his colleagues know this is murder but cannot imagine
how it relates to them.

But without a clown, the players know they cannot go on. Thus, when Nick recommends one Giddy Mussett, everyone stares askance at the suggestion. Giddy is known as a brawler, a drinker, and a lecher! He is also in debtors prison. After securing his release--and his promise to be on good behavior--Westfield's Men head for the country.

And while the show must go on, it goes with much ado about murder and more mayhem. Someone is out to destroy the players. And not far into their tour, Giddy is found
murdered. It is for Nick to figure all this out.

Marston, of course, takes us though the paces and by the final curtain, all's well that ends well. It goes without saying, particularly if you'ver ead any of this series, that
Westfield's Men save the day.

The author does an excellent job of staying in character--his historical mysteries also include The Domesday Book Series--and "The Vagabond Clown" is no exception. It's light,
fun reading, especially if one likes historical whodunits. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Summary: Murder and Bigotry
Edward Marston is a well regarded writer, known for his series featuring detective-actor Nicholas Bracewell. His latest novel, The Vagabond Clown, seems at first to be a light-hearted book based in the Elizabethan period. However, the ending of the novel has a surprising twist that demonizes Catholics.

Marston depicts Catholic villains who feel entitled to murder and torture anyone who insults their religion on the public stage. They are painted as broad brush representatives of all Catholics and depicted as members of a great conspiracy, spies for the pope, thieves, murderers, smugglers, etc. Admittedly, many Elizabethans might have believed this, but bigotry need not be replicated in a contemporary historical novel without the necessity of offering some kind of balanced viewpoint to counter it. To do otherwise is to reinforce a previous era's stereotypes and thus add fuel to the fires of religious or racial intolerance.

Instead, the author fans scurrilous flames in the voice of his hero. Nicholas Bracewell opines that, when the "truth" comes out, it will "shake" others' "faith" in the Catholic religion and lead them to abjure their religion. He again trots out "truth" as a defense for libel, when Bracewell asserts that the plays merely "laid bare the iniquities of Popery."

Excuse me, but I assumed that kind of pap went out with Guy Fawkes Day lynchings!

Summary: Colorful Elizabethan mystery
The Westfield's Men acting troupe consider themselves very lucky while in London to be based at The Queen's Head Inn. It has an enclosed yard that is perfect as an outdoor theatre and it even has balconies for the aristocrats and wealthy merchants that want to attend a play without mingling with the common folk. When a riot breaks out during a play they are giving, one of their star performers is injured and a man in the balcony is murdered. It is clear to all that someone wanted to use the riot as a diversion for the killing.

The proprietor of the Queen's Head throws out the actors forcing them to take to the road. They hire a substitute player temporarily until the injured actor is ready to perform again. However, every place they stop they are welcomed by villains who try to sabotage their performances. At one stopover, a player is killed and Nicholas Bracewell, the book holder and the glue that keeps the company together, realizes somebody is out to destroy the company and he intends to stop them.

Readers are privy to what happens behind the scenes in a traveling troupe's entourage. Westfield's Men are a diverse lot of actors who are at times act petty and argumentative but are at the same time loyal to one another and the troupe as a whole. They love to act and it shows in the risks they take but it is Nicholas Bracewell, a hired hand, who manages to rise above the ensemble to make Westfield's Men one of the best acting troupes in Elizabethan England.

Harriet Klausner

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The Queen's Head (Missing Mystery)

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Authors: Edward Marston

ISBN: 1890208450
List Price: $14.95
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Summary: Great Stuff
An Elizabethan theater troop is bedeviled by mishaps, including the murder of one its players in a tavern brawl, the theft of its one complete copy of the script with stage directions for a performance before the queen, an attempt to kill on the young boys who plays the female roles, and others. "Book holder" (akin to the director with extra duties) Nicholas Bracewell hunts for the killer while trying to hold the troop together. Great period details. General bawdiness and terrific dialogue add up to a fun read. Also, don't miss Marston's other series, which follows a group of traveling magistrates just after the Norman conquest of England. More terrific historical whodunits.

Summary: Murder and Mayhem in Elizabethan England
The year is 1588, England is at war with Spain, Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne, and London is a bawdy, boisterous mix of courtly elegance and general squalor. Against this background, Marston paints a picture of the precarious life of a small theater group, Lord Westfield's Men, who perform in the galleried courtyard of a pub called the Queen's Head. Nicholas Bracewell, the company's bookholder, not only holds the troupe together but also solves a murder in the bargain. The wild and colorful period comes vividly to life in Marston's mystery.

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	The Laughing Hangman: A Novel Publisher: St Martins Pr Authors: Edward Marston
ISBN: 0312143052 List Price: $21.95 Amazon Price: This item is currently not available. Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 4 Reviews: Summary: Murder in Elizabethan England Lord Westfield's Men are once again hip deep in a series of murders, Elizabethan style, in The Laughing Hangman by Edward Marston. Nicholas Bracewell, man for all seasons, bookholder and mediator for the actors, and detective when anything threatens them, is faced with one of his thorniest mysteries. The players have agreed to perform a play by a notorious and drunken playwright, Jonas Applegarth. At the same time Nicholas has been asked to rescue a young boy whose father says has been impressed against his will into the Chapel Children, a theater group connected with the Chapel Royal. While trying to find out what is credible, Bracewell discovers the body of the Master of the Chapel hanging above the stage at Blackfriars. As he approaches the body he hears a mocking eerie laughter before a door slams. This initiates an intriguing search for the laughing hangman, another death complete with laughter and yet another before the murderer is apprehended. Marston describes an interesting, believable world in Elizabethan London. The writ of the law does not travel far from the main streets and people often take matters into their own hands to defend themselves or attack their enemies. The theater is really outside the law, allowed to exist on sufferance. This, I believe, makes it easier for Nicholas to understand the mind of a person who could act outside the law. In a sense, it is all theater and an understanding of what happens on stage is prerequisite to solving the mystery. The theater world is riveting to tour, to trace the origins of much of our entertainment today. I keep hoping that Shakespeare will wander in to watch one of Lord Westfall's Men's offerings. Maybe he is in disguise. Marston provides us with interesting three-dimensional characters for the most part. Even the minor roles have meat to them. The story is well-told and, while I figured out the murderer several pages before the end, I was not at all sure of the motivation. And the motivation is something that could have caused a murder only in Elizabethan England. You cannot do much better than to pay a visit to Nicholas Bracewell in Elizabethan London Summary:

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	Parents' Survival Guide To I-75: Over 101 Fun Family Stops between Detroit and Orlando Publisher: Majestic Palm Press Authors: Daryl Westfield
ISBN: 1933602414 List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $10.37 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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	The Trip to Jerusalem Publisher: St Martins Pr Authors: Edward Marston
ISBN: 0312051743 List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: This item is currently not available. Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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