The Wanton Angel

Lies, Lechery and an anonymous AngelIn 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. Cue Nicholas Bracewell to uncover not one, but two hidden identities, of both the murderer and the anonymous benefactor, before the company gets disbanded.From Publishers WeeklyMarston's civilized series set in the theater world of Elizabethan England receives its 10th, expert installment. Gentle and intelligent, Nicholas Bracewell is the book holder of Westfield's Men, a troupe that's under attack from every direction. Their oaf of a landlord is out for blood because someone has taken advantage of his young daughter. Then the Privy Council decrees that only two companies will be allowed to perform in London, which means one will have to be disbanded. Since Westfield's Men lack a proper theater, they are at a disadvantage and decide to raise money to construct one of their own. It's up to suave, well-turned out Sylvester Pryde to find the money. Shortly after he succeeds, he is found murdered. Bracewell must calm his balky troupe, keep defections to the other companies to a minimum, find the killer and soothe the new patron. Marston's calm, well-wrought tale stands in contrast to the treachery-filled, bloody tales his characters are reenacting. He keeps introspection to a minimum, letting his imagination run when envisioning the period, which he does in high style, from intrigue at Court to events on stage, to the taprooms of London. As one of his characters says, "True art consists in concealing the huge efforts which lie behind it"Aand how well that seems to apply to Marston. (July) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn the tenth Nicholas Bracewell mystery (e.g., The Laughing Hangman, LJ 7/96), murder intervenes just as Bracewell's Elizabethan acting troupe is about to find a new home. Slow but with good detail. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.