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Kit Marlowe #10
Black Death
September, 1592. “Kit, I know we have never been friends, but you are the only man in London to whom I can write. Someone is trying to kill me”.
Christopher Marlowe had never liked Robert Greene when he was alive. But when the former Cambridge scholar is found dead in a cheap London boarding house, shortly after sending Kit a desperate letter, Marlowe feels duty bound to find out who killed him – and why.
What secrets did Robert Greene take with him to the grave? And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, taking such a keen interest in the case? As plague stalks the streets of London and the stage manager of the Rose Theatre disappears without trace just days before the opening of Marlowe’s new play, the playwright-sleuth finds himself in the midst of a baffling murder investigation – where nothing is as it first appears.
Christopher Marlowe had never liked Robert Greene when he was alive. But when the former Cambridge scholar is found dead in a cheap London boarding house, shortly after sending Kit a desperate letter, Marlowe feels duty bound to find out who killed him – and why.
What secrets did Robert Greene take with him to the grave? And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Robert Cecil, taking such a keen interest in the case? As plague stalks the streets of London and the stage manager of the Rose Theatre disappears without trace just days before the opening of Marlowe’s new play, the playwright-sleuth finds himself in the midst of a baffling murder investigation – where nothing is as it first appears.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published July 1, 2019
About the author
M.J. Trow
171 books123 followersMeirion James Trow is a full-time teacher of history who has been doubling as a crime writer for seventeen years. Originally from Ferndale, Rhondda in South Wales he now lives on the Isle of Wight. His interests include collecting militaria, film, the supernatural and true crime.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 29, 2020
1592 – The Pestilence has overtaken London.
Marlowe receives a letter from his rival/enemy Robert Greene asking for help.
Greene suspects someone is trying to murder him.
Marlowe arrives at Greene’s lodgings to find the man already dead and buried.
Several suspects emerge and as Marlowe attempts to solve the murder two other murders take place which may or may not be connected.
I enjoy the language but can’t say I cared much for the story.
Marlowe receives a letter from his rival/enemy Robert Greene asking for help.
Greene suspects someone is trying to murder him.
Marlowe arrives at Greene’s lodgings to find the man already dead and buried.
Several suspects emerge and as Marlowe attempts to solve the murder two other murders take place which may or may not be connected.
I enjoy the language but can’t say I cared much for the story.
July 30, 2019
Pestilence and murder stalk London's streets!
Kit Marlowe, playwrite and sometime agent for the crown! Smart, witty and a pleasing rogue, with a conscience it seems. Yet "Kit Marlowe was dangerous man to know."
It's September 1592. Pestilence stalks the streets and the theaters have been closed. When Robert Greene, a former fellow student, whose relationship with Kit is one of mutual dislike writes and says someone is trying to kill him Kit pays a visit. Only to find Robert is dead. Not content to leave the matter Kit, in the dead of night, with assistance takes the body out of the grave, collects evidence and finds that indeed Greene has been murdered.
That interfering with the grave leads to another thread, and then another. Indeed the whole story unravels like a plate of stolen delights interwoven into a slippery pasta. One death follows on another and there is a mysterious disappearance of a loved theater worker, Tom Sledd.
Add to this that somewhere in this mix is Sir Robert Cecil, looking for further answers.
I love the portrayal of Will Shaxsper, one of the body snatchers, "who never turned down an opportunity to gather experiences for the plays he knew he could write one day." A sly nod to the eventual rivalry between Marlowe and Shakespeare. Other players include an alchemist, Simon Forman, a" fashionable charlatan and rogue" with his secretive treatments. Hmmm! and a coterie of apprentices.
But when Eunice Brown, one-time nanny to the Cecil family, Noo-Noo, is found murdered powerful people are aroused.
There wasn't a dull moment, and despite the background of cholera, figures roaming out of the mists in protective bird like masks, and murder, this is an enjoyable and rather intriguing read.
BTW the cover becomes so much more appropriate after the read.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley
Kit Marlowe, playwrite and sometime agent for the crown! Smart, witty and a pleasing rogue, with a conscience it seems. Yet "Kit Marlowe was dangerous man to know."
It's September 1592. Pestilence stalks the streets and the theaters have been closed. When Robert Greene, a former fellow student, whose relationship with Kit is one of mutual dislike writes and says someone is trying to kill him Kit pays a visit. Only to find Robert is dead. Not content to leave the matter Kit, in the dead of night, with assistance takes the body out of the grave, collects evidence and finds that indeed Greene has been murdered.
That interfering with the grave leads to another thread, and then another. Indeed the whole story unravels like a plate of stolen delights interwoven into a slippery pasta. One death follows on another and there is a mysterious disappearance of a loved theater worker, Tom Sledd.
Add to this that somewhere in this mix is Sir Robert Cecil, looking for further answers.
I love the portrayal of Will Shaxsper, one of the body snatchers, "who never turned down an opportunity to gather experiences for the plays he knew he could write one day." A sly nod to the eventual rivalry between Marlowe and Shakespeare. Other players include an alchemist, Simon Forman, a" fashionable charlatan and rogue" with his secretive treatments. Hmmm! and a coterie of apprentices.
But when Eunice Brown, one-time nanny to the Cecil family, Noo-Noo, is found murdered powerful people are aroused.
There wasn't a dull moment, and despite the background of cholera, figures roaming out of the mists in protective bird like masks, and murder, this is an enjoyable and rather intriguing read.
BTW the cover becomes so much more appropriate after the read.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley
July 8, 2019
Elizabethan England and the Plague rules the summer.
This is a good survey for a crime or two within a company of names you would recognize. All is either dazzling with crystals or filthy as a back trenched water alley. It's difficult to read and as much as I like most good historical era settings- these are just not to my taste. Too much language in exalted methods of both the most dramatic, theatrical and also the most mundane slattern.
This one has to do with Cambridge dons and apprentices and Bedlam portions are well, bedlam.
I won't be tempted to do Trow again. He writes this period well- but I just hate the balance of the wording. And the grim crusting that is always upon each crust of bread.
This is a good survey for a crime or two within a company of names you would recognize. All is either dazzling with crystals or filthy as a back trenched water alley. It's difficult to read and as much as I like most good historical era settings- these are just not to my taste. Too much language in exalted methods of both the most dramatic, theatrical and also the most mundane slattern.
This one has to do with Cambridge dons and apprentices and Bedlam portions are well, bedlam.
I won't be tempted to do Trow again. He writes this period well- but I just hate the balance of the wording. And the grim crusting that is always upon each crust of bread.
July 21, 2019
Christopher Marlowe attempts to solve the murder of rival poet Robert Greene in 1592 plague-infested London. Few care a whit for Greene and initially Marlowe must struggle to prove that Greene’s death was a murder. There are several potential suspects (one of whom orders an attack upon him) and Marlowe must navigate through the equally treacherous worlds of Elizabethan theatre, government spymasters and charlatan sorcery. Other murders ensue and Marlowe struggles to find any connection between the victims.
This is the tenth entry in Trow’s series about the ill-fated 16th century poet and dramatist and the second I have read. The story, man hunts murderer, moves quickly with only two subplots running parallel to the main story line, inviting the reader to determine what relevance they have to the murder of Robert Greene. These subplots, of course, make the mystery more complex, but unfortunately, one of them involves a character who is the most obvious suspect from early on, so the suspense factor in this book is rather low.
The strength of the two books I read in this series lies in the imaginative characterizations of the historical characters who populate the action and the period language used in the dialogue. John Dee, mathematician and alchemist, is the closest Marlowe has to an ally and acts as a mentor and devil’s advocate to Marlowe’s hypotheses. The scenes between them were the ones I found most engaging. Most of the other characters act as dramatic foils according to their type and as objects of ridicule they tend to be merely character types, rather than people. The theatre folk are usually buffoons and poseurs, but the ones who are not objects of satire seem real enough. On the other hand, we do see a human side of the Cecils, spymasters to the queen, when the elderly nanny to the younger Cecil becomes one of the victims. They emerge as more three dimensional than a character like “Shakspear”, who seems more of a literary whipping boy than a person.
A major irritant factor to me is the use of anachronistic, in this case current popular expressions, in the narration. These do not appear in the dialogue and Trow does a fine job of peppering the dialogue with 16th Century colloquial speech that enriches the text without disabling the reader’s ability to know what the characters are saying. There are several occasions however when the narration becomes jarring as contemporary figures of speech and chichi expressions yanked me right out the world of the first Elizabeth into the world of the current one.
I found this book for the most part to be a fun historical mystery mainly for the antics and dialogue of the characters. I think it must be difficult to hide the culprit when many of the other principal characters are historical figures: making one of them a serial murderer would probably be stepping over a creative line; consequently, they de facto eliminate themselves as suspects. Of the non-historical characters in the book and there are enough of them, there is only one who has any credibility as a viable suspect.
This is the tenth entry in Trow’s series about the ill-fated 16th century poet and dramatist and the second I have read. The story, man hunts murderer, moves quickly with only two subplots running parallel to the main story line, inviting the reader to determine what relevance they have to the murder of Robert Greene. These subplots, of course, make the mystery more complex, but unfortunately, one of them involves a character who is the most obvious suspect from early on, so the suspense factor in this book is rather low.
The strength of the two books I read in this series lies in the imaginative characterizations of the historical characters who populate the action and the period language used in the dialogue. John Dee, mathematician and alchemist, is the closest Marlowe has to an ally and acts as a mentor and devil’s advocate to Marlowe’s hypotheses. The scenes between them were the ones I found most engaging. Most of the other characters act as dramatic foils according to their type and as objects of ridicule they tend to be merely character types, rather than people. The theatre folk are usually buffoons and poseurs, but the ones who are not objects of satire seem real enough. On the other hand, we do see a human side of the Cecils, spymasters to the queen, when the elderly nanny to the younger Cecil becomes one of the victims. They emerge as more three dimensional than a character like “Shakspear”, who seems more of a literary whipping boy than a person.
A major irritant factor to me is the use of anachronistic, in this case current popular expressions, in the narration. These do not appear in the dialogue and Trow does a fine job of peppering the dialogue with 16th Century colloquial speech that enriches the text without disabling the reader’s ability to know what the characters are saying. There are several occasions however when the narration becomes jarring as contemporary figures of speech and chichi expressions yanked me right out the world of the first Elizabeth into the world of the current one.
I found this book for the most part to be a fun historical mystery mainly for the antics and dialogue of the characters. I think it must be difficult to hide the culprit when many of the other principal characters are historical figures: making one of them a serial murderer would probably be stepping over a creative line; consequently, they de facto eliminate themselves as suspects. Of the non-historical characters in the book and there are enough of them, there is only one who has any credibility as a viable suspect.
August 13, 2019
Not great - even when drinking poolside.
August 26, 2019
It’s 1592 London and playwright/sleuth Christopher Marlowe receives a letter from arch enemy Robert Greene shortly after his death to investigate it as a homicide. Unable to resist the unusual request, Marlowe investigates as the plague stalks London, theatres are shut down for fear of the plague spreading, and magi abound with false but pricy hopes for salvation. Adding to the mystery is the disappearance of Kit’s friend, stage manager Tom Sledd and further random murders that Marlowe believes are related but can’t figure out how.
Black Death has a complex plot with a large cast of real people from the day (William Shaxsper and Sir Robert Cecil to name two) and an even larger cast of fictitious characters. These characters are well drawn out but getting everyone straight and their roles was problematic. The author, however, successfully managed to balance the bleak realities of Elizabethan London with dry wit and insight. Most of the time I wondered where the plot was heading, the best sign for a mystery, which completely surprised me at the end with its ingenuity. Marlowe is fearless and undaunted in his dealings and conflicts with the accepted way of thinking and the personages of the times. He is also down to earth in his dealings with everyday people and their issues.
Black Death will appeal to readers who enjoy a lot of history and actual personages rolled into a solid mystery.
Reviewed for the Historical Novel Society
Black Death has a complex plot with a large cast of real people from the day (William Shaxsper and Sir Robert Cecil to name two) and an even larger cast of fictitious characters. These characters are well drawn out but getting everyone straight and their roles was problematic. The author, however, successfully managed to balance the bleak realities of Elizabethan London with dry wit and insight. Most of the time I wondered where the plot was heading, the best sign for a mystery, which completely surprised me at the end with its ingenuity. Marlowe is fearless and undaunted in his dealings and conflicts with the accepted way of thinking and the personages of the times. He is also down to earth in his dealings with everyday people and their issues.
Black Death will appeal to readers who enjoy a lot of history and actual personages rolled into a solid mystery.
Reviewed for the Historical Novel Society
July 3, 2019
When enemy Robert Greene sends a letter to Marlowe asking him to save Greene from being murdered, the letter arrives too late. Although they were never friends, Marlowe investigates Greene's murder whilst his colleague from the theatre, Tom Sledd, disappears into Bedlam, and the theatres are closed due to the plague.
Another entertaining instalment of the Kit Marlowe investigations. An interesting, fast moving plot with many of the usual characters popping up including Shaxper (Shakespeare as a bit of a buffoon), the Cecils, Dr Dee, and Master Sackerson (a bear). I have really grown to like this series, the author brings the late 16th century world to life. I have noticed that the author is slowly encircling Marlowe with characters thought to be involved in what happened to him, and Marlowe himself is making numerous enemies, . Can't wait for the next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Severn House / Crème de la Crime, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
Another entertaining instalment of the Kit Marlowe investigations. An interesting, fast moving plot with many of the usual characters popping up including Shaxper (Shakespeare as a bit of a buffoon), the Cecils, Dr Dee, and Master Sackerson (a bear). I have really grown to like this series, the author brings the late 16th century world to life. I have noticed that the author is slowly encircling Marlowe with characters thought to be involved in what happened to him, and Marlowe himself is making numerous enemies, . Can't wait for the next book.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Severn House / Crème de la Crime, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
November 18, 2019
I won't offer a plot synopsis as plenty of other reviewers have already provided one. I'm a big fan of MJT and love this series. Kit Marlowe is such a great character to have stage centre. He's like a rock star who died young. Enigmatic, charismatic and appealing to both men and women and anyone in between probably. There are plenty of inter-textual jokes relating to both Marlowe and Shakespeare's plays. You can play spot the quote or not! The books offer just enough historical detail, with real life characters mingling with invented ones, to set the mood but not so much that you feel you're being offered a history lesson. I enjoyed musing on who I might cast as Kit should the books be dramatised for the screen.
June 17, 2019
An excellent historical mystery thriller with a nice dose of humour thrown in for good measure. Based in the late 16th century and using real historical figures such as Kit Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Robert Greene gives it a feeling of, if not truth, then at least the feeling that it could possibly have happened. One nice touch is changing the perceived wisdom of our understanding of some of the characters. So Kit is an out and out all action, charismatic hero and Shakespeare (Shaxper) is a bumbling provincial.
The characters are engaging and enjoyable and the plot really does romp along. All in all a very enjoyable read.
The characters are engaging and enjoyable and the plot really does romp along. All in all a very enjoyable read.
May 21, 2019
September 1592 and Kit Marlowe receives a letter from an old enemy, Richard Greene, imploring Kit to investigate his coming death. Events are compounded with the threat of the plague, but with the closure of the theatres it means Kit has the time to investigate. But when other murders occur what is the connection between then all. But has any one missed Tom Sledd the stage manager of the Rose Theatre.
An entertaining and enjoyable read, I really liked this story in the series.
A NetGalley Book
An entertaining and enjoyable read, I really liked this story in the series.
A NetGalley Book
June 27, 2019
Elizabethan England was a hotbed of conspiracies and political infighting and murder. Robert Greene is murdered after sending a letter to Kit Marlowe, who now finds himself bound to investigate the death. He's also getting ready to open his new play and now the stage manager has disappeared and he must find out what happened there as well! Robert Cecil hovers over all. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Trow has conjured a fun mystery with lots of atmospherics that will keep fans of the genre happy.
April 27, 2019
Another outing in Elizabethan England has Kit Marlowe investigating the death of Robert Greene, one of the first professional writers of the day, and a contemporary of both Marlowe and Shaxsper - the man who referred to the Bard of Avond as an "upstart crow".
Kit receives a message from Greene, no friend of our Kit, asking Marlowe to come to his aid - instead Greene is found dead in mysterious circumstances. In reality, around this time, Greene wrote exposés on the Elizabethan underworld, such as "A Notable Discovery of Coosnage" (1591) and the successful and amusing "A disputation betweene a hee conny-catcher and a shee conny-catcher" (1592).
Against this we have the appearance of the magus Simon Foreman, currently favourite of Elizabeth I, sidelining Dr John Dee, and the disappearance of steadfast Tom Sledd. But London is not only being stalked by a killer but also the Plague, resulting in a closure of the theatres, leaving Kit ample time to investigate.
Marlowe is as witty and irascible as ever; all the usual suspects are present; and red herrings abound.
My copy was actually a Kindle edition.
Kit receives a message from Greene, no friend of our Kit, asking Marlowe to come to his aid - instead Greene is found dead in mysterious circumstances. In reality, around this time, Greene wrote exposés on the Elizabethan underworld, such as "A Notable Discovery of Coosnage" (1591) and the successful and amusing "A disputation betweene a hee conny-catcher and a shee conny-catcher" (1592).
Against this we have the appearance of the magus Simon Foreman, currently favourite of Elizabeth I, sidelining Dr John Dee, and the disappearance of steadfast Tom Sledd. But London is not only being stalked by a killer but also the Plague, resulting in a closure of the theatres, leaving Kit ample time to investigate.
Marlowe is as witty and irascible as ever; all the usual suspects are present; and red herrings abound.
My copy was actually a Kindle edition.
June 29, 2019
I love this series and loved this book, it's fun to read and entertaining.
The historical background is well researched as usual, the cast of characters interesting and the mystery is full of twists and turns.
I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
The historical background is well researched as usual, the cast of characters interesting and the mystery is full of twists and turns.
I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
July 13, 2019
Christopher Marlowe has been sent a message by Robert Greene who has never liked him. He needs him to come and save him someone is trying to kill him. Marlowe is too late. Greene is found dead in a plague area. Marlowe and 3 fellows from the Rose Theatre where he is putting on his latest play go dressed as plague doctors to dig up Greene to find cause of death. Marlowe’s friend Tom Sledd finds his night cannot get any worse when Bedlam beckons. This is a tale of many twists and turns from twins drowning to an old nursemaid seeing the light. Marlowe must find the connection to these strange events to stop the next murder. You are taken back to the times of the 1500’s and a time where plague played a big part in superstition and doctors used the stars to predict health.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 29, 2020
Excellent description of characters interactions in the early theatre time of 16th century London. A good mystery-- not too gory. A fun fairly light book despite its rather gruesome title. Christopher Marlowe makes an excellent lead character.
September 23, 2021
A little too much going on that was distraction, not supporting the story, more or less stretching the book to hit a page minimum. But the writing in parts was lovely. One of the reasons I continued reading it was the echo of the theater closing due to rampant contagion.
April 25, 2019
A fast, fun mystery set in Elizabethan England. For my full review, please visit my website: https://hergraceslibrary.com/2019/04/...
July 10, 2019
Always a good time with Kit. London during the time of the plague and the theaters are closed. Keep reading for everything to end well.
March 14, 2020
Love this series of books.
Would recommend them to anyone who likes Elizabethan spy tales...as long as you don’t take them too seriously.
Enjoyable read.
Would recommend them to anyone who likes Elizabethan spy tales...as long as you don’t take them too seriously.
Enjoyable read.
August 6, 2019
There’s a lot going on in this murder mystery story – an unpopular poet (Robert Greene) is murdered, the stage manager of the Rose Theatre goes missing, the plague is ravaging London, a sham “doctor” is taking advantage of the people’s fear of the plague, the former nursemaid of the powerful Cecil family is found murdered in the Cecil’s home and the London theatres have been closed on account of plague. Whew!
Although this is Book 10 in the series, it reads perfectly fine as a standalone. I found it interesting that Kit Marlowe is investigating the murder of a man who he couldn’t stand when he was alive. It adds to both Marlowe’s complicated nature, but also makes the suspect list quite long and varied.
This was my first read in the Kit Marlowe series, but it will certainly not be my last. Trow’s writing is incredibly descriptive, but not in a way that bogs down the story. As I mentioned before, there is A LOT going on here, but at no point did I feel that things were too complicated or too rushed.
There were a lot of aspects to this story that were a nice change to the usual Queens and Kings storylines. There is a heavy focus on theatre life (not a big surprise, considering Marlowe is a playwright), an interesting look at life in Bedlam and a focus on the fear and paranoia that gripped London during the plague season. Instead of the glamour and glitz of court life, this book focuses a lot more on the “real world” – the gritty, hard and dirty life of the common people in Elizabethan England.
I particularly enjoyed Kit Marlowe as a fictional character. He is well-written by Trow and is a bit of a chameleon – he can be friendly, charming, sly, dangerous and tender at any given moment. From what I’ve read about Marlowe’s real-life exploits, perhaps Trow isn’t that far off. Apparently, Marlowe allegedly more than just a playwright. He was remembered as a drinker, a brawler, and rumoured to be a spy who died under mysterious circumstances.
I’m definitely intrigued by Marlowe as a character and am looking forward to going back and reading the first nine books in this series.
* Thank you to publisher, Severn House, for providing me with a advanced e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
You can read my full spoiler-free review on my blog: https://www.bookfrolic.com/book-revie...
Although this is Book 10 in the series, it reads perfectly fine as a standalone. I found it interesting that Kit Marlowe is investigating the murder of a man who he couldn’t stand when he was alive. It adds to both Marlowe’s complicated nature, but also makes the suspect list quite long and varied.
This was my first read in the Kit Marlowe series, but it will certainly not be my last. Trow’s writing is incredibly descriptive, but not in a way that bogs down the story. As I mentioned before, there is A LOT going on here, but at no point did I feel that things were too complicated or too rushed.
There were a lot of aspects to this story that were a nice change to the usual Queens and Kings storylines. There is a heavy focus on theatre life (not a big surprise, considering Marlowe is a playwright), an interesting look at life in Bedlam and a focus on the fear and paranoia that gripped London during the plague season. Instead of the glamour and glitz of court life, this book focuses a lot more on the “real world” – the gritty, hard and dirty life of the common people in Elizabethan England.
I particularly enjoyed Kit Marlowe as a fictional character. He is well-written by Trow and is a bit of a chameleon – he can be friendly, charming, sly, dangerous and tender at any given moment. From what I’ve read about Marlowe’s real-life exploits, perhaps Trow isn’t that far off. Apparently, Marlowe allegedly more than just a playwright. He was remembered as a drinker, a brawler, and rumoured to be a spy who died under mysterious circumstances.
I’m definitely intrigued by Marlowe as a character and am looking forward to going back and reading the first nine books in this series.
* Thank you to publisher, Severn House, for providing me with a advanced e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
You can read my full spoiler-free review on my blog: https://www.bookfrolic.com/book-revie...
August 19, 2019
In Black Death our sleuth is Christopher Marlowe, playwright and intelligencer. Robert Greene, a competitor and enemy since their college days, has died after penning a letter to Marlowe claiming he is being murdered and asking Marlowe to bring the killer to justice. From here, the plot grows increasingly complex, with two other possible murders, an epidemic of plague, a subplot set in Bedlam, and both an unscrupulous plague doctor with apprentices and the great alchemist John Dee. Shakespeare—a not particularly bright, not particularly gifted Shakespeare—provides moments of comedy within the action. And, oh yes, there’s a bear. If you have any interest in Tudor history or drama you’ll be delighted with this read that pulls in many of the eras key characters and concerns.
Read
November 14, 2019Don’t bother getting this book to read
Horrible
Horrible
April 9, 2019
This witty and entertaining read is another in the series penned by M.J Trow featuring Kit Marlowe as a detective solving mysteries in late Elizabethan London where plague proliferates and political intrigue and religious intolerance are embedded in a society beset by superstition and fear. When fellow dramatist Robert Greene dies after sending Kit a letter claiming his life is in danger Marlowe begins an investigation that will be comprised of many baffling twists and turns and red herrings. More deaths will follow Greene's but what is the relationship between them all?
I like historic fiction, books about London's history and crime fiction so this ticked a number of boxes for me. There is much mystery and myth surrounding the life and untimely death of Christopher Marlowe and the allegations that he was indeed a government spy lends itself to such fictional tales of crime solving. Here the author weaves his interpretation and representation of actual events and people to create a fast paced story which contains quite a bit of knowing humour particularly with reference to disputed Elizabethan authorship. The book is also wonderfully descriptive of the dirt, squalor and danger to be found on the streets in London. This is a baffling tale that quickly goes from one scene to another ensuring that the reader is eager to turn to the next page in order to find out the ultimate solution.
Certainly a fun and entertaining read that will appear to many who like this ever popular genre.
I like historic fiction, books about London's history and crime fiction so this ticked a number of boxes for me. There is much mystery and myth surrounding the life and untimely death of Christopher Marlowe and the allegations that he was indeed a government spy lends itself to such fictional tales of crime solving. Here the author weaves his interpretation and representation of actual events and people to create a fast paced story which contains quite a bit of knowing humour particularly with reference to disputed Elizabethan authorship. The book is also wonderfully descriptive of the dirt, squalor and danger to be found on the streets in London. This is a baffling tale that quickly goes from one scene to another ensuring that the reader is eager to turn to the next page in order to find out the ultimate solution.
Certainly a fun and entertaining read that will appear to many who like this ever popular genre.
April 12, 2019
Black Death is a great historical mystery with a touch of plague for a different plot. I loved this mystery and it's characters.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews