The Bawdy Basket: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell (Elizabethan Theater Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Edward Marston (Author)

Book Description

Series: Elizabethan Theater Mysteries | Publication Date: August 1, 2002

Westfield's Men, the Elizabethan theater troupe at the heart of Edward Marston's intricate and popular series, are enjoying good fortune in their native London. Their talented playwright is at work on his next opus, set to open in a few short weeks, and the group's trusty stage manager and reliable problem-solver Nicholas Bracewell is looking forward to a productive and calm season.

Unfortunately for Nicholas, his friendship with Frank Quilter, a young actor who's just joined the troupe, is about to cause him a lot of trouble. Frank's father has been arrested and accused of a murder he didn't commit, and before anyone can figure out what to do he's convicted and hanged for his crime. Destroyed, young Frank promises to avenge his father, at the expense of the play Westfield's Men have contracted to perform. Nicholas, who's loyalty is split between the company and his new friend, agrees to help Frank on condition that he fulfill his obligations as an actor.

Enter an unlikely ally in the form of one Moll Comfrey, a comely young saleswoman with more to sell than meets the eye. She has the key to the whole mystery hidden somewhere on her person, and it's up to Nicholas to find out what she's hiding (by whatever means necessary) before the theater, not to mention Frank's life, goes dark.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On top of the usual, waggishly presented intrigues facing Elizabethan London's most calamity-prone theater company, Westfield's Men, come still more dire threats, in Edward Marston's The Bawdy Basket: The troupe risks losing both its creative genius and its financial backing. Troubles begin with the execution of Gerald Quilter, a prosperous businessman unjustly convicted of murder, whose son Frank has recently joined Westfield's Men. Despite his fellow actors' misgivings, Frank is determined to clear his father's name, and Nicholas Bracewell, the company's stage manager and resourceful troubleshooter, agrees to help--even if it costs him his job. Meanwhile, playwright Edmund Hoode, renowned for his unrequited romances ("Your whole life is one long, desperate, lovesick sigh," another player reminds him), seems finally to have found a woman to share his heart. Yet she insists that Hoode forsake the stage and pen sonnets solely in her tribute. As disaster looms in his troupe's future, Bracewell's search for reasons behind the framing of Gerald Quilter leads to a young woman peddler, and also attracts the predatory attention of a moneylender anxious to bankrupt the pleasure-seeking patron of Westfield's Men.

Marston, a prolific author of historical mysteries (also published under his real name, Keith Miles), vividly re-creates the scents and sensibilities of 16th-century England, with carefully applied strokes of humor. This 12th installment of his Nicholas Bracewell series offers fewer insights into its protagonist than did The Silent Woman, and slightly less menace than The Roaring Boy. But its intricate conspiracies and swashbuckling action give The Bawdy Basket dramatic urgency deserving of repeated ovations. --J. Kingston Pierce

From Publishers Weekly

Edgar nominee Marston (one of several pseudonyms of British author Keith Miles) offers his 12th engaging, leisurely Elizabethan theater mystery (The Devil's Apprentice, etc.) featuring Nicholas Bracewell and Westfield's Men, a tightly knit acting company. A fine actor, Frank Quilter puts in a poor performance because his father has been convicted of murder. Quilter persuades Bracewell, the company's stage manager, that his father is innocent and that witnesses have perjured themselves. When his father is hanged, the company wants to expel Quilter, but Bracewell persuades the others merely to suspend him. Quilter and Bracewell investigate, starting with the witnesses who helped send the elder Quilter to the gallows. At the annual St. Bartholomew's Fair they find the eponymous bawdy basket, a female peddler of notions and favors, who contravenes the perjurer's testimony just before she's murdered. The company is damaged even further when its playwright is approached and conquered by a comely, wealthy widow with whom he wants to retire to the country and write sonnets in her praise. A final blow to the players comes when a usurer demands payment of the many debts of Lord Westfield, the company's patron, who, like most London gentlemen, extravagantly lives on borrowed money. Marston neatly resolves all the difficulties and ties up the plot strings while conveying through the judicious use of period language the atmosphere of 16th-century England.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312285019
• ISBN-13: 978-0312285012
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical feel--Elizabethan theater, September 13, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Bawdy Basket: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell (Elizabethan Theater Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Westfield's Men Players are at the top of their form and should be enjoying their success. But, when one of the player's father is falsely convicted of murder and their author falls in love with a woman who wishes to support his art far from the theater, the company is rocked. Unless 'book-holder' Nicholas Bracewell can sort things out, the company may be destroyed. When a witness to the father's innocence (a prostitute or 'bawdy basket') is found, things begin to look up--until the woman too is murdered. Now Nicholas and his friends have to worry about their own survival as well as the survival of their company.

Set in the Elizabethan theater scene, THE BAWDY BASKET gives a convincing view of the sights and smells of the time when theater reached its greatest peak. The ever-competent Nicholas is a solid figure in the midst of the emotional and not always rational actors, each fighting for their moment in the public acclaim.

Author Edward Marston relies a bit too heavily on coincidence and on on-the-nose dialogue to overexplain motivations, but nevertheless delivers a highly enjoyable mystery.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an engrossing and entertaining read, August 6, 2002

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bawdy Basket: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell (Elizabethan Theater Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It should have been one of their more glorious summer seasons. Instead, the Westerfield players are now facing near annihilation! When the players first learn that Frank Quilter's father (Gerard) has been executed for murder, the superstitious actors, sure that Frank's father was guilty of the crime, and worried that the notoriety of the Quilter name will rub off on them, are anxious that Frank be asked to leave the company. Only the threat from their much valued stage manager and problem solver, Nicholas Bracewell, prevents this turn of events. Sure that Gerard was innocent of the accusation of murder, and eager to help Frank clear his father's name, Nicholas threatens to leave the company unless Frank is allowed to remain, and he (Nicholas) be allowed to investigate the case brought against Gerard.

The company also faces another threat to their well being: their faithful and brilliant playwright, Edmund Hoode, has fallen in love (again) with a rich and beautiful widow, and who seems to have her own plans for Hoode -- none of which includes his remaining with the company! Threatened on all sides, the players cannot help but wonder if all this spells the end of the company... Unless, of course, Nicholas manages to clear Gerard Quilter's name as well as come up with a plan to detach Hoode from his rich inamorata!

But will Nicholas be able to successfully clear Gerard Quilter's name? There are, to begin with, many vexing questions that have to be answered. For instance, why did two seemingly respectable merchants testify that they saw Gerard commit the murder? Why was Gerard fitted up for the charge in the first place? And who was the powerful enemy that set all this in motion? Before long Nicholas has managed to discover the answers to all these questions -- but not before more murders are committed and an attempt is made on his life...

Brisk, breezy and totally engrossing, "The Bawdy Basket" unfolded at an incredibly breathneck pace. I finished the book before I even realised it -- I was that absorbed with the novel. However, I must own that the mystery at hand is not a very complicated one, nor are there any red herring suspects or cunning turns in the plot that will keep you guessing to the very end. Nevertheless, it was still an intriguing and interesting mystery novel and a definite pager turner. With so many Elizabethan theatre mystery novels being published almost everyday, ( and most of them being quite good), I was relieved to note that Edward Marston has not lost his entertaining and witty touch, and that the Nicholas Bracewell mystery series still remains one of the best (as well as one of my favourites) around. A fantastically good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marston stages another success!, February 9, 2003

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bawdy Basket: An Elizabethan Theater Mystery Featuring Nicholas Bracewell (Elizabethan Theater Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It's the 12th episode of Edward Marston's Elizabethan Theater Mystery featuring
Nicholas Bracewell, and if you've stayed with the series so far, you are assured of
another exciting foray into murder, mayhem, and mystery in 17th century Merry Olde England. Once again, Westfield's Men find themselves facing the usual plethora of problems, some theatrical, some personal, some criminal (that is to say,
"murderous"). Once again, it appears that this illustrious and dynamic theatrical troupe will face its final curtain!

In "The Bawdy Basket," young actor Frank Quilter's father has just been executed at Smithfield. Believing him to have been
innocently condemned, Frank sets out to right the wrong and to return honor and dignity to his family name. He enlists his friend Nick Bracewell to help him. Of course, clearing this case is not so simple, as the pathways to righteousness are
indeed anything but straight and narrow. Winding through the alleys and byways of London, the duo run into all kinds of obstacles.

In addition, Edmund Hoode, the company's irreplaceable playwright, has fallen in love once again and is determined to leave the theater, much to the consternation of the rest. That problem has to be be solved.

And Marston does solve all the problems, of course. Despite his usual stilted dialogue, the book runs true to course. "The Bawdy Basket" further illustrates the
conditions and situations of Elizabethan England and for students of medieval history (and who love historical myteries), this episode deserves a standing ovation.