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Crimson Rose (A Kit Marlowe Mystery, 5) Hardcover – November 1, 2013

by M.J. Trow (Author)

4.5 30 ratings

Book 5 of 11: A Christopher Marlowe Mystery

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March, 1587. Christopher Marlowe’s play Tamburlaine, with the incomparable Ned Alleyn in the title role, has opened at the Rose Theatre, and a new era on the London stage is born.

Yet the play is almost shut down on its opening night. For a member of the audience, Eleanor Merchant, lies dead, hit by a musket ball fired from the stage. The man with his finger on the trigger? A bit-part player named Will Shakespeare.

Convinced of Shakespeare’s innocence, Marlowe determines to find out what really happened. When a second body is found floating in the River Thames, it becomes clear that Eleanor Merchant’s death was no accident, and that something deeper and darker is afoot. And why is the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, taking a close personal interest in the case?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With the occasional snappy retort or quote from Shakespeare and Marlowe, this witty fifth mystery in the Kit Marlowe series keeps pace with the others as a decent puzzle and divertissement. Readers are advised to peruse the series in order, or wrestle with the many names and relationships introduced here. Kit Marlowe, playwright and sometime Queen’s spy, uses his myriad connections and knowledge of London’s political and underworld dramatis personae to clear William Shakespeare’s name of a full-view, onstage killing and solve two possibly related murders. The leisurely pace and daily difficulties of Elizabethan life, evoked with an ornate style and the sometimes obscure vocabulary of the time (snaphaunce, deodand, catchpole), along with droll situational humor, focus attention on Marlowe’s creative wit and his opponents’ deceitful illusions more than on the puzzle’s solution. A few anachronisms mar the telling (“Cambridge was so six months ago”), but fans of the series and of Edward Marston’s amusing Elizabethan theater mysteries, featuring Nicholas Bracewell, will enjoy Kit Marlowe’s part in the drama at the Crimson Rose. --Jen Baker

Review

Fans of the series and of Edward Marston’s amusing Elizabethan theater mysteries, featuring Nicholas Bracewell, will enjoy Kit Marlowe’s part in the drama at the Crimson Rose ― Booklist

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1780290535
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crème de la Crime; First World Publication edition (November 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781780290539
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1780290539
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.9 x 9.18 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,576,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,477 in Historical British & Irish Literature
- #34,481 in Historical Mystery

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4.5 30 ratings

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M. J. Trow

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M J Trow (the 'M' as most people know by now stands for Meirion, a Welsh name few can manage, so he writes as M J, is known by all and sundry as Mei, rhyming with 'my') has been writing for many years, with his first book - The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade - being published in 1984 by Macmillan. More Lestrades followed and then some true crime and somehow it all snowballed so now he has many historical biographies and three other crime series (Maxwell, Marlowe and Grand and Batchelor, the latter two written with his wife, writing as Maryanne Coleman, though her name is Carol, actually!) to his credit. He claims to be retired, but that's just from teaching. In fact he has never been busier and is a sought after 'ghost' these days as well as historian and novelist, with many different subjects' stories having been told through him. He has recently started collaborating on fiction projects (with someone other than his wife, that is) and finds it a really exciting and pleasurable experience.

To relax he ... actually, that's a bit tricky, as he doesn't really ever relax. He has been known to garden, he is a keen cook and artist and likes to travel. This is rather easier these days as he is a popular speaker on cruise ships - in fact his profile picture was taken on a very gusty day in Cape Town, setting off on a long voyage home to Southampton through some of the scariest seas he and his wife have had the pleasure to meet! It really was the calm before the storm, despite being a Force 9 just leaving the Bay.

Family is important and he is very proud of his wife, Carol (aka Maryanne Coleman) for her own books and also the ones they write together, the Kit Marlowe series. His son, Taliesin, known as Tali, is a writer who has written a biography of the Tudor explorer Martin Frobisher as well as collaborating with Mei on several biographies. An exciting series is in the melting pot at the moment and will hopefully be appearing soon; remember where you heard it first. Tali is also a musician, playing various instruments with some acclaimed bands; Gemma Hayes, the Coal Porters, Circulus and currently acid-folk ensemble The Lords of Thyme. He also records and tour-manages. His crystal vocals enhance everything he does and it's just as well someone in the family can sing, as it is the first thing anyone asks a Welshman!

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eyes.2c

...a first rate twisty Elizabethan intrigue!

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2013

Christopher Marlowe, Elizabethan play write and supposed spy for Francis Walsingham has a new play, Tamburlaine, being performed.
Will Shakespeare has a part. He is to fire a gun during the performance. He discharges his gun and in the aftermath it is discovered that he has killed someone in the audience--his landlady. That's just the beginning. It's up to Kit to solve the riddle, and clear Shakespeare's name. Bodies begin to litter the novel's stage.
At the same time a corpse is fished from the Thames.
Dodgy doings and swindling are at hand. Spies are thicker on the ground than a London fog.
The action includes a dangerous chase through the narrow streets alleyways, and a murderer most unexpected.
Trow has made use of interesting historical fact and speculation such as the relationship between Kit and and William Shakespeare, the thought that Marlowe might have been a crown spy, and other factors to great advantage.
Two of the nefarious toughs we first meet attempting a swindle on Marlowe, we continue to meet throughout the story. They are Nicholas Skeres and Ingram Fritzer. (Historically rumoured to have stabbed Kit to death.)
The problem Kit is having with his Masters Degree being conferred by his Cambridge college, Corpus Christi, a matter that forms part of the background in this novel, is sorted out by the Chief Secretary, one of Walsingham's associates. (That this historically actually was a problem for Marlowe, solved by outside pressure, suggests some think, that Marlowe did indeed work for the crown.)
Kit's investigations leads him into a nest of Protestants. But as one says to him there are many groups, 'What is it they call us? Puritans? Well it takes all sorts, Brother, all sorts. We are actually fifty shades of grey when all is said and done.' Wryly amusing.
A thoroughly good yarn!

A NetGalley ARC

One person found this helpful

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Mary Beers

fair

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2013

Don't like books that are part of a series. Would not have picked this book had I realized that it was part of a series.

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Top reviews from other countries

Chasqui Penguin

A Background Look into the Theatrical World of Kit Marlowe

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

It was such a delight to find that this book revolves largely around The Rose Theatre and productions of Christopher Marlowe's plays being staged, with Edward Alleyn in the lead roles and Will Shaxsper in background acting roles, till he is thrown into the limelight and into the Clink. Although the espionage theme clearly looms within the pages of this book, it takes a back seat compared with its predecessors, making this series even more diverse. As before, characters re-appear from the previous novels, including Nicholas Faunt, and it is fascinating to see how the story is woven together so cleverly by Mr Trow. Once again, I have given a 5 star rating and would have given more had it been possible.

Sharon Jones

Always a great read. Most amusing.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

Always great fun and excitement. You are living in Elizabethan England with the well drawn characters. Looking forward to the next book.

Mimi

Book as described

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

book as described and promptly delivered