Showing results by author "Edward Marston" in All Categories

The audience was merry indeed when a third devilish imp bounded onstage to join the two that had been written into the script. But backstage all was uproar. The third demon seemed too much like the real thing. Even Nicholas Bracewell, the company mainstay, was shaken when, next time the play was given, only one devil appeared. The second, poor fellow, was now only a little red heap backstage. Murdered.

Nicolas Picard is riding home from Exeter when he's attacked by a snarling wildcat. Yet, when the body is found, there are lacerations on his neck put there by a human hand. He is involved in a land dispute and his wife claims to be the benefactor on his behalf. Picard's mistress emerges to stake her claim then a third woman—wife of the deceased original owner of the land—comes forward. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have three human wildcats trying to tear out each other's throats.

It is the juiciest piece of gossip the citizens of Norwich have heard for a long time. The ruthless Richard de Fontenel is himself the victim of robbery. In addition to two priceless golden elephants that he was using to lure the beautiful lady Adelaide into marriage, his steward Hermer is also missing. Onto the scene arrive soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret who are meant to adjudicate on a land dispute, but they also become involved in the hunt for the thief. But is Hermer the steward really missing or has something altogether more sinister happened?

In this first instalment of the Bow Street Rivals series a riot breaks out in Dartmoor prison, enabling some American inmates to escape. The twin detectives Peter and Paul Skillen catch wind of a projected assassination but the target is unknown. Trouble ensues when a woman from the Home Office vanishes; a mysterious lady turns up at the archery shooting gallery; and Paul’s gambling addiction worsens.

The fiery star of the company of players called Lord Westfield’s Men, Laurence Firethorn, is hot for a lady, wife of the Lord Mayor elect. A tryst at London's Nine Giants Inn is arranged. Meanwhile, the lugubrious landlord of the actors' home base is laid even lower by a plot to take over ownership of the inn. A young apprentice actor is subjected to a horrible assault and a waterman pulls a mangled corpse from the Thames.

For Lord Westfield’s Men, every high road leads to death. When the deathly horrors of the Black Plague decimate the audiences in London’s theatres, the acclaimed troupe of players called Lord Westfield’s Men take to the high road to seek out fresh audiences. But wherever they go, they are thwarted by misfortune, and are baffled by mysteries. Their scripts are stolen, their players abducted. A dead man walks, and a beautiful woman hears the voice of God. Only one man is clever enough to match swords with the troupe’s burgeoning troubles.

February 1918. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Detective Sergeant Joe Keedy are pulled from their beds to attend a sinister siege involving three burglars where one policeman has already been shot dead. Attempts at talking the men in the house into surrender are met with stony silence so the police proceed to batter down the door and Keedy bravely leads the way. A gunshot is heard. Keedy is hit. As Keedy is rushed to hospital, Marmion is on the trail of the men who fled the scene and startling revelations emerge.

When Nicholas Bracewell finds himself once again in the parlour of his lost love, Anne Hendrik, he was not expecting her entreaties to embroil him in the murder of a beloved choir master. Between tales of cruelty, forgotten maps of London and a butcher determined to rescue his son, it is yet another mystery for the book keeper to untangle. But will his quest endanger Lord Westfield’s Men?

A fire at the Queen's Head deprives Westfield's Men of their home, so they seize the opportunity to travel to Denmark with their patron, Lord Westfield, who is to marry a beautiful young Danish widow. When they reach Elsinore castle, they are given a warm welcome, but the murder of Rolfe Harling, who brokered the wedding, changes the whole atmosphere of the place. Danger threatens from all sides, including England, where one man seeks revenge and dispatches assassins after the troupe. They are soon caught up in a complex web of political intrigue and betrayal.

A scurrilous newspaper has built up a large following by publishing details of political and sexual scandals. It is remarkably well-informed and has therefore created a whole host of enemies. When the editor is killed and the printing press smashed to bits, the Invisible Detectives are hired by the man who financed the production of the paper. He wants the killer brought to justice and the scandal sheet revived. Peter and Paul Skillen find themselves in great danger as they unearth an enormous amount of scandal and corruption before the villains are brought to book.

The plague has struck London once again but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield’s Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company’s bookholder Nicholas Bracewell and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield’s secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them.

When unexpected disaster strikes Lord Westfield's Men during a packed performance, Nicholas Bracewell must save the day. Will a vagabond clown prophesy the end of the troupe - and perhaps the demise of Nick himself?

In the tenth installment of this dramatic Elizabethan series, Westfield’s Men are flying high after a celebrated performance of The Insatiate Duke at the Queen’s Head. However, victory is bittersweet as the company is soon faced with dissolution and the loss of their theatre; were it not for one of the company’s rising stars. After acquiring a new benefactor, the company plan to build their own theatre. However, before they have the chance to find out who this guardian angel is, one of the group is found brutally murdered.

Araminta Jewell is a beauty, a dazzling young lady who manages to resist all the blandishments that come her way. But even her marriage to Sir Martin Culthorpe has not discouraged the rakes of London, and she is still pursued with unflagging zeal. It is during her first sitting for a portrait that Christopher Redmayne meets the lovely Lady Culthorpe, although he has heard much about her. Before the portrait can be finished, however, Sir Martin is murdered.

Esteemed mystery writer Anne Perry, author of more than twenty-five novels and two acclaimed detective series, heads up a delectable cast of writers, the very best from both sides of the Atlantic. In the tradition of honored crime writers Agatha Christie, Malice Domestic, Volume 6 jumps the pond between Britain and America to deliver 100 percent pure suspense in all its spine-tingling glory. The ten mysteries included here are read by Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Cazenove, Reed Diamond, Judy Geeson, Patrick Macnee, and Emmy winners Juliet Mills and William Windom.

Chasing his dream of a glittering architectural career, Merlin Richards has left the Welsh valleys for the Arizona desert, propelled by a handwritten note from the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright. Richards arrives at the Arizona Biltmore hotel, where he meets a beautiful young designer named Rosa Lustig. Like every man in her circle, Merlin is captivated by Rosa but soon finds himself the prime suspect in her murder.

Lord Westfield's Men, the most successful troupe in London and a prime target for jealousy and resentment, are plagued by a series of practical jokes. But when one of their actors is murdered, the humour turns distinctly sour. Appalling events continue: Lawrence Firethorn, actor manager, is stalked by a mysterious lady; the sole copy of The Malevolent Comedy - the company's new play - is stolen; their leading apprentice is abducted; and there is an attempt on the life of Lord Westfield, their patron.

Winter, Witchcraft and Devilish Deceit. Faced with the austerities of a bitterly cold English winter, the theatre is deserted and Westfield’s Men find themselves out of work. Fortuitously, the company is invited to perform at a country home in Essex; welcome news to the disgruntled players. The company decide it’s the perfect opportunity to trial their new play, The Witch of Colchester. However, when the group’s leading actor begins to fall mysteriously ill, the company fear witchcraft might be involved.

Capitan Daniel Rawson is a soldier, spy, linguist and ladies' man. Whether he is extracting valuable intelligence from the wife of a French general or leading his men in a Forlorn Hope, Rawson is a man on whom the Duke of Marlborough can always rely. Seething with intrigue and packed with swashbuckling heroics, the novel follows the Confederate army on the long, perilous trek across Europe to meet the French and their allies at the ferocious battle of Blenheim.

Nicholas Bracewell befriends a young beggar who is trying to eke out a living as a counterfeit crank, pretending to have spectacular epileptic fits in order to get money from gullible bystanders. When the beggar is murdered inside Bridewell, Nicholas has to pose as a beggar himself in order to get inside the notorious institution so that he can solve the crime. Counterfeiting of all kinds is exposed.