M. J. Trow

Historical fiction featuring Christopher Marlowe as Queen Elizabeth’s advance scout to find a route for her tour of the English countryside, where the queen and her many attendants become visible to her subjects. This tour was known as a “progress,” and included sequential visits to the country houses of nobles. They entertained the queen with masques (stage performances), speeches, music, food, and drink. During Marlowe’s advance visits, several unexplained deaths and unpleasant incidents took place. The story revolved around solving the mystery of these incidents.

I found this novel quite unique in its setting and storyline. The author provided vivid descriptions of England in 1591 using period-appropriate language, in the time of Shakespeare (spelled Shaxsper) and Marlowe. I was interested to find out how these seemingly unrelated events were eventually explained. This story has an extremely long build-up and a quick denouement. I found it a solid story that transported me into the time-period. Recommended to readers of historical fiction of the Elizabethan era.

I received an advance reader's copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review.… (more)

M.J. Trow is one of my go-to authors when I'm in the mood for an historical mystery. She has a number of series, some of which I like better than others—and her new(ish) Geoffrey Chaucer series is my current favorite. These mysteries aren't cozy, nor are they blood-soaked. The plots have enough going on that they don't drag. Most enjoyable, they're populated by a cast of characters who are engaging and who bring with them all sorts of foibles.

I found The Yeoman's Tale particularly interesting since it's set during the peasants' uprising led by Wat Tyler and John Ball. For a brief historical moment, class-based England seemed on the verge of sweeping change—and the events of the time, even if they didn't result in sweeping change are both fascinating and unsettling. Having Geoffrey Chaucer thrown into the mix makes it all the more enjoyable.

If you're someone like me, always looking for historical mystery series with interesting settings and interesting central characters, you'll want to check out The Yeoman's Tale.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.… (more)

I had two disadvantages when I read this book, first that it's the eight book in the series about Kit Marlowe and I have not read any previous book. And the second, this is an era that just doesn't really my thing. However, I went through a period when EVERYTHING looked interesting on NetGalley. That means I have a lot of books to go through that I, in hindsight perhaps should have passed over. This one is one of them.

Anyhow, this is a story about a murder, and it's the Queen's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham that has been poisoned. Walsingham former righthand man orders Kit Marlowe to find out who killed Walsingham. So, Kit is off consulting scientists and thinkers of the School of Night to find out what poison it was and who murdered the spymaster.

I found myself not really taken with the story, actually now and then I felt a bit lost even. Like some thought processes from Kit's side took place outside the story in the book. It could just be me of course, not really finding neither the plot nor the characters especially interesting. On the plus side, Shakespeare shows up now and then in the story, not a terribly good playwriter apparently...

Eleventh Hour is probably a great book for fans of the era and those that love this series. I, however, will not bother with more books in this series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!… (more)