The Nicholas Bracewell Series
The Nicholas Bracewell Series alternatively referred to as An Elizabethan Mystery is a series of detective mystery novels by Edward Marston. The first novel of the series was The Queen’s Head that was first published in 1988 to much critical acclaim to be followed by more than ten titles in the series.
The lead character in the Nicholas Bracewell series is Nicholas Bracewell the bookholder of a popular theater company. Set in an alternative Shakespearean universe, the series of novels are a look into the struggles and triumphs of a theater company through the calamities both political, and socioeconomic of the Elizabethan period.
The Queen’s Head the first novel of the series opens in the period immediately after the death of Queen Mary
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The novel was the forerunner of excellent epics that included the likes of Shakespeare in Love in being boisterous and bawdy yet elegant. It is an entertaining novel that is culturally and historically accurate that introduces well developed nuanced and intriguing characters of the Lord Westfield’s Men acting troupe. The novel is thus not only an enjoyable introduction to the series abut also a taste of what is to come from the major movers and shakers of said series.
The Counterfeit Crank the fourteenth novel of the series is one of the most thrilling with compel subplots that arguably makes this one of the best in the series. Edmund Hood a leading playwright is suddenly struck down by a mysterious illness forcing the troupe to scramble to find an able replacement. Michael Grammaticus offers to take up the position and while Edmund is laid down by the illness, the ever so gracious Grammaticus pays for his medical expenses including a doctor. But just when they think they have everything under control, the acting troupe is struck another blow. It is a great portrayal of betrayal and deceit in the background of historical London portrayed in all its
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Westfield’s Men are enjoying time back home in London while quietly preparing for the start of the theater season in a few weeks. But Nicholas’s the ever reliable problem solver of the group gets himself in trouble through his friendship with a teen actor that recently became a member of the troupe. Frank Quilter’s father has been accused of murder, arrested and hanged in a crime his son vows he is innocent of. He vows to avenge his father, and Bracewell now has to choose to help his young friend or cut him off from the troupe to avoid the possible negative publicity. But the key to the whole mystery will come from one of the most unexpected
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