The Mad Courtesan

Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession. Laurence Firethorn, star actor and seducer of women, who should know better, but who are bewitched by the charms of his profession, is always ready for a secret tryst or dalliance whenever he can. However it is from another quarter that jealous rivalry erupts in the troupe of actors. Two of the other players, Owen Elias, a surly Welshman and Sebastian Carrick an amiable and handsome gentleman doe not get on. Their on stage duels become ever more realistic, but it is an axe, not a sword that splits open Carrick's head one night in a Clerkenwell alley. Nicholas Bracewell, the company's book holder (an important role in Elizabethan theatre) is used to sorting out the messes that his fellow actors get themselves into, begins to investigate the death and is surprised to find that Sebastian was prone to make enemies from his weakness for other men's women and also his habit of not paying his debts. Perhaps the likeable man that Nicholas knew, was not all he seemed . . . Edward Marston bring to life the sights and sound of Elizabethan London so effectively that the reader almost feels transported back to the narrow stinking streets of old London town.

Edward Marston's Nicholas Bracewell/Elizabethan mysteries are usually a lot of fun (at least all four that I've read), and this is a perfect example. The book teams with interesting characters, and features several plot lines (a performing horse, an amorous actor, a murdered actor, and a dying queen) in the 233 pages of this book. Fortunately the plots are all resolved to satisfaction. There's not a terribly great mystery, but that doesn't seem the point with this series. The melodramatic life of Westfield's Men, the acting troupe, is the real story here. However, one doesn't need to read the novels in order, or start at the beginning or anything. They are fun to read, and one can inadvertently learn a bit about Elizabethan England.