The Queen's Head: The dramatic Elizabethan whodunnit (Nicholas Bracewell Book 1)

Edward Marston has written over a hundred books across many series. They range from the era of the Domesday Book to the Home Front during WWI, via Elizabethan theatre and the Regency period. He is best known for the hugely successful Railway Detective series set during Queen Victoria's reign. --This text refers to the paperback edition. Marston's wit and vivid evocation of Elizabethan London's sights and smells provide a delightfully ribald backdrop for this clever series.--Publishers Weekly...all the swashbuckling thrills and romantic swagger of the blood-and-thunder tragedies that are meat and drink to Westfield's Men.--New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the paperback edition. From Library Journal Amiable, intelligent, and efficient protagonist Nicholas Bracewell serves as book holder for Lord Westfield's Men, a troupe of actors headquartered at the Queen's Head Inn. Boisterous, rough-and-tumble 1588 London life permeates this behind-the-scenes description of Elizabethan theater. Nicholas promises a dying actor friend--stabbed in an apparently spontaneous tavern brawl--that he will avenge him and immediately begins his search for the ruthless "redbeard." Serious tone, genteel language, a sense of historical presence, and well-sketched characters comprise a sterling performance.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Marston launches a series with this first appearance of Nicholas Bracewell, "book holder" for an English theatrical company in 1588. Not only the prompter but also the wise manager of the group, Bracewell must cope with temperamental thespians and other, more grave crises. As England rejoices in the triumph over the Spanish Armada, the troupe rehearses a play honoring Queen Elizabeth, which she will attend. Hopes for a gala performance are dashed when a villain named "Redbeard" kills actor Will Fowler; that event and other incidents lead Bracewell to suspect a plot to ruin the company. Helped by Sam Ruff, who substitutes for Fowler, the manager keeps up morale and takes steps to guard against Redbeard in advance of the queen's arrival at the theater. Marston's exhilarating mystery, ending with a bang-up close--on and off stage--is colored by details about the acting profession at that time and, sadly, about the era's mortal quarrels between Catholics and Protestants. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more