Review: A Rather Dreary Novel
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 4, 2014
Christopher Marlowe is stabbed to death. It is ruled an act of self defense but John Shakespeare, the brother of William, suspects murder. But why?  Before he can delve deeply into that, he is tasked with uncovering the anarchists who are blowing up areas of London with casks of gun powder.  Then too, he must tackle  another growing development that may throw the entire monarchy and England into chaos.There is much to learn about Elizabethan England from this book.  The facts of Christopher Marlowe's death are accurate and the supposition for his death put forth in this fictional book are not much different from  actual and varied theories.  One can certainly get a glimpse into what life may have been like in those times, the foods, habitats, attitutes of the people to conditions in England, etc.The plot lines just seemed to go all over the place. It was hard to tell who was a friend and ally to John Shakespeare. People seemed to go from friend to foe to friend and then maybe  to neutral.  The dialogue itself was not very entertaining.  It would seem that all people at that time (at least in this book) were all dour and cheerless. The characters just were not well fleshed out. Perhaps that had been taken care of in earlier books in the series.  While people were seeking out plots and plotters against the Queen and her people, it seemed they were more intent on working against each other rather than helping for the common good. If you have a person who may have valuable information, lock him in a friend's cellar so no one else can question him.  It seemed that if a person may have some information, he would immediately be thrown in jail to await some heavy questioning.  John may not have approved of torture but it seemed he had little sympathy for people involved in the plots, no matter how innocently or forced in they were. To me he did not seem like a very nice person.I had hoped that there would be some interaction between John and William Shakespeare. There was a little at the very beginning and again at the very end. There just was not enough to make this rather dreary novel more interesting.