- Hardcover: 292 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1 edition (Aug 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312307896
- ISBN-13: 978-0312307899
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 16.2 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 379,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Amazon.co.uk Review
"This was no random act of malice," proclaims stage manager Nicholas Bracewell, after an audience brawl disrupts the latest comedic performance by Westfield's Men, in Edward Marston's The Vagabond Clown. If there was any doubt of design behind this affray, it's quickly dispelled by the discovery of a dead spectator in the gallery, Fortunates Hope--stabbed in the back. So who wielded the dagger, and why? Bracewell and the other members of his troupe haven't the time to find out, before they are ousted from their usual stage in Elizabethan London and forced to take to the road for their income, beginning a tour of the Kent countryside that will bring them even more trouble than they could typically find in the English capital.
Misfortune is guaranteed when--needing a clown to stand-in for the querulous Barnaby Gill, whose leg was broken during the riot--the company hires his hated but gifted rival, Gideon Mussett. Aware of Mussett's reputation for "drunkenness and truculence," Bracewell wrests from him a pledge to behave. However, this proxy jester proves difficult to handle from the outset, and only becomes more so as his performances gain Westfield's Men acclaim. Among his supposed infractions are several prankish attacks on the injured Gill, who has insisted on traveling with Westfield's Men in order to ensure that Mussett won't try usurping his position. But Bracewell thinks fault for his company's recent adversities may lie, instead, with another, less successful band of thespians who are also traveling through the area, and whose patron knew the murdered Hope. He's convinced of their culpability after Westfield's Men are ambushed on the open road, Gill is threatened with drowning, and Giddy Mussett is assaulted in a stable. Somebody, it appears, is determined to bring the curtain down on Bracewell's band, once and for all.
The Nicholas Bracewell novels (of which The Vagabond Clown is the thirteenth) offer a fulfiling blend of hilarity and heart, romance and mystery. And Marston's flair for capturing both the upright and ribald elements of his Elizabethan setting is to be envied. If there's any disappointment in these pages, it's that a late scene involving a sea chase never achieves the swashbuckling excitement it promises. --J Kingston Pierce, Amazon.com
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
“The Vagabond Clown” is the latest in the Edward Marston series (“An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell”) and the author continues to maintain his
flair for the dramatic!
flair for the dramatic!
Once again, Westfield’s Men, in which Nicholas is the stagemanager “and all around performer of miracles,” find themselves in a lot of trouble! Owing to a devastating
brawl during one of their performances at the Queen’s Head Inn, the troupe has to exit stage out-of-town, as so much damage has been done to the Inn and their stage proprieties,
there is nothing left for them but to head to Kent to recoup their losses. A major injury to the players is that Barnaby Gill, their erstwhile clown, was injured (a broken leg) in the
melee.
Alas, during said brawl a young man is found dead in the bleachers, a dagger sticking out of his back. Nick and his colleagues know this is murder but cannot imagine
how it relates to them.
But without a clown, the players know they cannot go on. Thus, when Nick recommends one Giddy Mussett, everyone stares askance at the suggestion. Giddy is known as a brawler, a drinker, and a lecher! He is also in debtors prison. After securing his release--and his promise to be on good behavior--Westfield’s Men head for the country.
And while the show must go on, it goes with much ado about murder and more mayhem. Someone is out to destroy the players. And not far into their tour, Giddy is found
murdered. It is for Nick to figure all this out.
Marston, of course, takes us though the paces and by the final curtain, all’s well that ends well. It goes without saying, particularly if you’ver ead any of this series, that
Westfield’s Men save the day.
The author does an excellent job of staying in character--his historical mysteries also include The Domesday Book Series--and “The Vagabond Clown” is no exception. It’s light,
fun reading, especially if one likes historical whodunits.
Format:Hardcover
"The Vagabond Clown" is the latest in the Edward Marston series ("An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell") and the author continues to maintain his flair for the dramatic!
Once again, Westfield's Men, in which Nicholas is the stagemanager "and all around performer of miracles," find themselves in a lot of trouble! Owing to a devastating brawl during one of their performances at the Queen's Head Inn, the troupe has to exit stage out-of-town, as so much damage has been done to the Inn and their stage proprieties,
there is nothing left for them but to head to Kent to recoup their losses. A major injury to the players is that Barnaby Gill, their erstwhile clown, was injured (a broken leg) in the melee.
Alas, during said brawl a young man is found dead in the bleachers, a dagger sticking out of his back. Nick and his colleagues know this is murder but cannot imagine how it relates to them.
But without a clown, the players know they cannot go on. Thus, when Nick recommends one Giddy Mussett, everyone stares askance at the suggestion. Giddy is known as a brawler, a drinker, and a lecher! He is also in debtors prison. After securing his release--and his promise to be on good behavior--Westfield's Men head for the country.
And while the show must go on, it goes with much ado about murder and more mayhem. Someone is out to destroy the players. And not far into their tour, Giddy is found murdered. It is for Nick to figure all this out.
Marston, of course, takes us though the paces and by the final curtain, all's well that ends well. It goes without saying, particularly if you'ver ead any of this series, that Westfield's Men save the day.
The author does an excellent job of staying in character--his historical mysteries also include The Domesday Book Series--and "The Vagabond Clown" is no exception. It's light,fun reading, especially if one likes historical whodunits.
Once again, Westfield's Men, in which Nicholas is the stagemanager "and all around performer of miracles," find themselves in a lot of trouble! Owing to a devastating brawl during one of their performances at the Queen's Head Inn, the troupe has to exit stage out-of-town, as so much damage has been done to the Inn and their stage proprieties,
there is nothing left for them but to head to Kent to recoup their losses. A major injury to the players is that Barnaby Gill, their erstwhile clown, was injured (a broken leg) in the melee.
Alas, during said brawl a young man is found dead in the bleachers, a dagger sticking out of his back. Nick and his colleagues know this is murder but cannot imagine how it relates to them.
But without a clown, the players know they cannot go on. Thus, when Nick recommends one Giddy Mussett, everyone stares askance at the suggestion. Giddy is known as a brawler, a drinker, and a lecher! He is also in debtors prison. After securing his release--and his promise to be on good behavior--Westfield's Men head for the country.
And while the show must go on, it goes with much ado about murder and more mayhem. Someone is out to destroy the players. And not far into their tour, Giddy is found murdered. It is for Nick to figure all this out.
Marston, of course, takes us though the paces and by the final curtain, all's well that ends well. It goes without saying, particularly if you'ver ead any of this series, that Westfield's Men save the day.
The author does an excellent job of staying in character--his historical mysteries also include The Domesday Book Series--and "The Vagabond Clown" is no exception. It's light,fun reading, especially if one likes historical whodunits.
Format:Hardcover
Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.
Regular reader's of the series will know that Lord Westfield's Men are probably the most accident prone troupe of actors that ever went on a stage and it is always the company's stage manager Nicholas Bracewell who has to untangle the web s of intrigue that seem to follow them wherever they go. Once again they have been struck by an unexpected disaster. A melee caused by men in disguise is brought under control, but before the troupe can attempt to recover what they can of their damaged set, Nicholas discovers a body in the stands. A body with a knife sticking out of its back . . .
The author's love for the Elizabethan theatre comes shining through this series of books. Plus his knowledge of the period fills the pages with authenticity and the sights and sounds of the streets and inns of Elizabethan London.
Regular reader's of the series will know that Lord Westfield's Men are probably the most accident prone troupe of actors that ever went on a stage and it is always the company's stage manager Nicholas Bracewell who has to untangle the web s of intrigue that seem to follow them wherever they go. Once again they have been struck by an unexpected disaster. A melee caused by men in disguise is brought under control, but before the troupe can attempt to recover what they can of their damaged set, Nicholas discovers a body in the stands. A body with a knife sticking out of its back . . .
The author's love for the Elizabethan theatre comes shining through this series of books. Plus his knowledge of the period fills the pages with authenticity and the sights and sounds of the streets and inns of Elizabethan London.
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