Murder Most Foul

by Guy Jenkin

Murder Most Foul is a dark, witty and fast-paced novel, from one of Britain’s best-loved screenwriters.

It’s 1593, Elizabeth I is Queen and everyone is terrified of the worst outbreak of plague in a generation. Shakespeare has only written six plays and is lagging behind his friend Christopher Marlowe, London’s leading playwright.

When Marlowe is stabbed to death in mysterious circumstances, rumours abound – but the one that won’t go away is that Shakespeare did it to remove his greatest rival. Will is determined to clear his name, and teams up with his old flame, Marlowe’s sister Ann, who has plenty of secrets of her own.

In their search to solve the crime, Will and Ann uncover a dark world of treachery, murder, and corruption – which in turn provides Shakespeare with scenes and characters which will appear in his greatest plays.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, London, Crime, Audiobook

288 pages, Paperback

Expected publication February 10, 2026

Reviews

[Amber Saleemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this as part of my Crime Freaks Subscription Box!
This isn’t the kind of book I would usually pick up, but I ended up really enjoying it. I loved the blend of fact and fiction—it gave the story a unique edge while still feeling grounded. The characters were engaging and well-drawn, and the writing had a natural flow that made it easy to keep turning the pages. Just when I thought I had a handle on things, another mystery would pop up, keeping me hooked right to the end.

[Maddy McGlynn]

A very enjoyable romp with Shakespeare and Co. through Elizabethan London.

Jenkins is a British film director and comedy writer with works including Outnumbered. In Murder Most Foul, Jenkin pits grisly crime against humour and an intriguing story.

Will (Shakespeare) is supported by an entertaining cast, including his fierce but forbidden love, Anne Marlowe; Lizzie, the tiny and resilient child; and various constables, villains and fellow playwrights. Their stories merge to create a tale of shifting alliances, betrayals and camaraderie.

The book authentically captures the dangerous London of Elizabeth I, with its spies, politics, plague and theatre scene.

This wasn’t quite laugh-out-loud comedy but instead had a more humorous tone that was maintained throughout, giving the book a fast pace and strong energy.

Thank you to @legendpress for sending me a copy of this book.

[I C · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4. The right mix between historic fiction, historic facts, and murder mystery vibes. Well paced, nice flow, and plenty of surprises.

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a fan of this, it started promising but went downhill and got worse as it went on. This is about the death of Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare and Marlowe’s sister are trying to solve the mysteries surrounding this. Marlowe and Shakespeare are gifts to authors as not much is known about their lives so you can make things up to a large extent.

This book has some basis in the various theories surrounding Marlowe’s death, but generally it does not portray the period very well, women are constantly thinking about how oppressed they are the the patriarchy and towards the end the characters were thinking, speaking and acting like modern people with a thin veneer of Tudor times on top which is jarring and annoying. It was hard to stay interested and there were not many stakes in terms of Shakespeare as we know he is not going to die unless this is an alternate history which it isn’t. Racism and feminism are modern concepts, not much was done to try to understand how people may have thought, felt and expressed themselves in this period.

Also I think the treatment of Shakespeare was not great, the assertion that he did not know Latin which is bizarre because he had a classical education and some of his sources especially for plays like Titus Andronicus were not available in English at the time so he must have read them in Latin. Also that he did not like his wife, it is a bit depressing how prevalent this take is, I think Hamnet might be one of the few that shows the opposite.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in Deptford, you can’t carry bodies far in daylight... [loc. 1402]

In which William Shakespeare is suspected of the murder of Christopher Marlowe, and makes common cause with Marlowe's sister Ann (formerly Will's lover) to find out who really killed Marlowe, and why. Well-researched, witty historical whodunnit with a credible denouement and some excellent dialogue (Jenkin is an award-winning scriptwriter) and lots of period detail. Also, set in my neck of the woods...

The premise sounded excellent, but didn't quite ring true for me. Perhaps there were too many viewpoint characters -- Will, Ann, Lizzie the Dutch orphan, Bella the spy, the mysterious Widow. Perhaps some of the attitudes were slightly too modern. Perhaps I was just vexed that Marlowe, throughout, was referred to as 'Chris' rather than 'Kit'.

I was drawn into the intricacies of the plot, with all its political layers, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) references to characters and plot elements from Shakespeare's plays. Will and Ann-without-an-e's relationship was poignant, because doomed. And Jenkin evoked 16th-century London in its stenchful, dangerous glory: an outbreak of plague, anti-immigrant sentiment, filthy streets, squalor.

Despite my reservations and criticisms, I did like it: more, in hindsight, than while I was reading! Jenkin's theory about Marlowe's murder makes a lot of sense, and his dialogue is cracking. I hope it's the first in a series.

An interesting fact I learnt from this novel: cormorants have green eyes!

[Martin Pilkington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another idea about the death of Christopher Marlowe! The main protagonists ere are William Shakespeare and his lover, Ann Marlowe, the brother of Christopher Marlowe.

What the book is very good at is showing how dirty London was in the late 16th Century and how dangerous it was to live in. If the plague didn’t get you the mobs looking for catholics, or for foreigners, probably would.

The book speeds through the events that befall Will and Ann as they look for the truth about Christopher Marlowe’s death and who killed him. For me it was a bit too hectic, characters were constantly being introduced and shown to be good, bad or a bit of both.

Maybe the ending had the feeling of being overly positive given how dark of the rest of the book was. But for a debut novel…

[kikbim · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Shakespeare and Ann Marlowe investigate the murder of her brother Christopher.
This works as a Shakespeare in Love kind of romp, having young William the playwright, dash about a 1593 plague-stricken London as he romances a woman who is not Anne Hathaway and inserts bits and pieces from his real life into his works -- notably, there's a potion dealing friar and mention of poison poured into a victim's ear.
As a whodunnit, it's perhaps less striking, because reality surpasses fiction.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

In all honesty, I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I have to admit that I went in to it with some reservations about the historical side of it with such well known characters. But I enjoyed the storyline and the adventure that the characters had throughout it, both the main ones and the side characters as well.

It was easy to follow through, the language and style of writing that the author has used. Nothing felt stuffy at all like some historical fiction books can be sometimes.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy historical fiction and I'm a huge audiobook listener. I also enjoy audiobooks set in different eras. I thought this sounded like a really interesting mystery, and I had high hopes that both narrators would be very good. Unfortunately I've given up as the multiple POVs have confused me, and I'm not keen on the narrators either. Maybe it's would be better in print, rather than as an audiobook?
Thanks to NetGalley and W.F. Howse for my digital copy via the Netgalley Shelf app.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75!
A well research depiction of Shakespeare's time. Put the reader right onto the streets with the characters.
The book started out as highly engrossing for me but st 80% it found my attention waning. It seemed the books build up was better then the actual climax, for me.
Overall an interesting take on the murder of Christopher Marlow, I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of shakespeare and this period

[Mythical Bookwrym · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fun little romp through Elizabethan England, with enough detail to make you feel like you where in the dirty streets of London. The biggest problem with this book however, is how many characters you step into with each POV switch, and how often it seems to happen. You get no true feel for what the characters are like, what their motivations are, and it distracts from picking up on all the subtle clues about who the killer is.

[Jyothin Madari · Rating 3 out of 5]

"... this too was a kind of disguise, and he could see the city's septic heart beneath it, the hidden chambers where powerful men upheld religion and morality by day whispered, plotted and murdered in the dark. No rules applied to them. They could kill, torture or fuck whomever they wanted, for no other reason than they always had. Lord Ferdinando Strange could walk free because he was related to kings."

[Chai · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this (audiobook edition) from my public library via Libby, and didn't even realise until I looked it up on Goodreads that it hasn't been released yet.

The story is intriguing but sometimes very much all over the place - sometimes this works to convey the chaos surrounding them, sometimes it doesn't.
I do appreciate the author not trying to force a perfect happy ending, I think the one we got works very well!

[Richard Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Shakespeare and his friend Anne are trying to solve the murder of Anne’s brothers, Christopher Marlowe. This fictional account of the playwright’s death takes us through the plague-ridden streets of Elizabethan London. A mystery filled with dirt, grim and intrigue which was enjoyable and at times shocking.

[Vicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

It all felt very flat. I don't think the rapid POV swaps did much for the story, and I feel like there could have been more depth to it if we had only seen everything through Ann or Will's point of view. Every shred of tension only lasts a couple of pages or so before whatever danger there is dissipates.

[Matt Wheddon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. Lots of descriptions of what London must have been like but found it far fetched and over the top at times

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

not something I would normally read, lots of twists and turns, also a lot of characters which I found a little hard to keep up with overall a really good book

[Stephen Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avery clever plot and all the more interesting given the time period it was set in. Well worth a read.

[Kasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating and so well written!!

[Sheryl B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, you certainly get drawn into a foul-smelling, visceral and dangerous world of the back streets and alleys of London—quite a different view from the familiar royal court setting. A fanciful plot that suggests 'real-life' experiences that gave Shakespeare a dramatic foundation for his writing, spanning some hellish depths as well as soaring emotions of the heavens. An easy read. (I read the LegendPress paperback edition, but couldn't find that in Goodreads).