"Exciting historical mystery"
After leaving their hamlet for cash, wannabe playwright
Will Shakespeare and his equally hopeful thespian Tuck
Smythe think all's well as they are on the brink of fame
(and steady meals with decent ale) when the plague
strikes. To reduce the chance of the epidemic spreading,
theaters are closed. With the halls shut, Will markets a
sonnet romance writing business while Tuck toils at a
smithy. Former troupe player Ben Dickens introduces Will and Tuck
to his friend, goldsmith Corwin. who loves Hera, the
daughter of wealthy Genoa ship trader Master Leonardo, who
recently relocated to Britain. When Hera's reputation goes
into a tankard, a hurt Corwin ends their engagement.
However, someone murders Leonardo with Corwin considered
the prime suspect. Will, Tuck, and Ben scrutinize the
crime and the victim, only to learn that when it comes to
an Elizabethan tragedy in which the world is the
investigative stage, homicide is Much Ado About something
deadly to the actors. The third Shakespeare and Smythe sleuth story is an
exciting historical mystery that engages the audience with
its insight into the Bard and the era he wrote his great
works. Though the plot moves slower than the first two
novels as the who-done-it fails to take the stage until the
fourth act, fans will relish the relationship, oft
dysfunctional, between the protagonists. Will and Smythe
accompanied by Ben set forth on A MYSTERY OF ERRORS while
trying to solve THE SLAYING OF THE SHREW'S FATHER. MUCH
ADO ABOUT MURDER is much ado about strong writing that thou
the reader will taketh to enjoy. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted December 1, 2002
|
|
Shakespeare and Smythe are at it again in their third
literary mystery romp set in the world of the Elizabethan
theater. The plague is in town and the theaters are closed by royal
decree, so even though fledgling playwright Will Shakespeare
and would-be thespian and part-time ostler Symington Smythe
are now fully ensconced members of a theater company, the
two inadvertent shamuses of the stage world are once again,
at least temporarily, out of work. To make ends meet, Smythe resorts to smithing while Will
becomes a poet for hire involved with the affairs of a
certain dark lady . . . until entertainment-starved London
is rocked by an apparent crime of passion with all of the
requisite elements of a Greek tragedy. But life is never as simple as a stage-bound construct, and
soon the detective duo find themselves involved in an affair
that makes MUCH ADO ABOUT MURDER
|
