The Princess of Denmark

In the final installment of the series, our beloved book keeper, Nicholas Bracewell takes his final bow as the curtain closes on Westfield’s Men; but not before he solves just one more crime.

Following a disastrous fire that burns down The Queen’s Head, the players must take their talents elsewhere. Their newly widowed patron, Lord Westfield plans to marry again and sets his sights on a princess of Denmark. With her uncle being a fan of Westfield’s Men, the troupe are invited to join their patron in his travels to go and wed his beautiful bride in Elsinore. Bracewell and his fellows face perils on the sea as they head for Denmark. But as always for Westfield’s Men, trouble seems to follow them wherever they go and when a body is discovered, questions need to be answered.

At the start of Marston's spirited 16th entry in his Elizabethan Theater series (after 2005's The Malevolent Comedy), book-holder Nicholas Bracewell and the Westfield Men sail for Denmark with their twice-widowed patron, Lord Westfield, who has been enticed into marriage with Sigbrit Olsen, an alleged beauty he has seen only in a miniature painting given him by his shady business agent, Rolfe Harling. After narrow escapes from storms and pirates, Bracewell and company arrive in remote Elsinore, where Harling is murdered in the castle basement and unknown ruffians assault veteran actor Owen Elias. Bracewell's sleuthing skills again prove up to the task as he begins to suspect a ruse after Westfield's comely fiancée avoids seeing her future husband for days preceding their wedding date. A coded message found inside a chess piece adds to the suspense. (Aug.)
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Adult/High School–This period mystery grabs readers from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last word. Though the book includes vernacular terms, the language and syntax are clear. This allows readers to join the company of players, led by book holder Nicholas Bracewell, and to follow them from the burned-out inn in London where they were actors to the castle in Elsinore where their patron's betrothed waits. Nicholas solves one murder, avoids another, and saves his patron from marriage to a mysterious princess. A coded message in a chess piece adds to the suspense. The classic plot of murder, heroism, love, and deception has a dash of 16th-century Danish court life thrown in. A Dramatis Personae preceding chapter one sets the stage. Students who have read Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar will gain insight into theater and life in Shakespeare's time.–Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.