The Fair Maid of Bohemia: A Novel [Hardcover]

Edward Marston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

The Westfield Men are devastated when an actor is murdered during their first performance at the court of Rudolph II, and when Nicholas Bracewell realizes that he had been the intended victim, he needs all his skills to rescue the company from danger."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

When Nicholas Bracewell and his acting troupe travel to Prague to perform for the King of Bohemia, they hit a deadly snag. Someone kills an actor during the first performance, throwing the rest of the visit into dangerous confusion. An excellent Elizabethan historical.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Another angst-filled, detail-loaded chapter (the ninth) in the chronicles of Lord Westfield's Men, an Elizabethan Age acting company whose usual venue is the yard of the Queen's Head Inn (The Laughing Hangman, 1996, etc.). This time, a performance viewed by beautiful young visiting Princess Sophia Magdalen results in an invitation to perform at the court of Emperor Rudolph of Bohemia. Since the plague is ravaging London, Nicholas Bracewell, the company's masterful manager, decides to accept, using an abbreviated troupe headed by blazing lead actor Lawrence Firethorn and including versatile newcomer Adrian Smallwood, a younger version of Nicholas. For part of the journey, the manager will have the company of Anne Hendrick, his landlady and true love, as she's to visit her late husband's dying father in Holland. Before leaving, Nicholas accepts a packet of documents and a tiny box, both to be delivered to famed astrologer-scientist Talbot Royden at the Bohemian Royal Court. The harrowing sea voyage to the Dutch port of Flushing ends in tragedy, though, when Adrian is found stabbed to death in a killing that Nicholas is certain was meant to be his. Then it's overland to Cologne and Frankfurt, where Anne rejoins them, and finally to Prague, where, it turns out, the troupe's plays are to be part of Princess Sophia's wedding celebration, and where Nicholas discovers that Talbot Royden has been imprisoned by an unhinged Emperor Rudolph. There's more, much more, before a kidnapped Anne is rescued and a deadly morass of religious intrigues and spying, complete with codes, is uncovered. A vastly overpopulated and overplotted story that still manages to provide some humor and suspense along with a richly colorful history lesson. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 229 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312156065
• ISBN-13: 978-0312156060
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,164,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ninth Book in a Wonderful Ongoing Series, November 30, 2006

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fair Maid of Bohemia (Paperback)

Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.

The theatre players called Lord Westfield's men are in imminent danger of disbanding. The plague is sweeping through England and the London Inns and Theatres are all but empty, as people fear contagion. Just as it seems there is nothing left for them they are invited to perform at the Imperial Court in Prague. They believe an event such as this will be their greatest achievement yet.

The invitation is from Sophia Magdalena, a great beauty and the great-niece of Rudolph II. In confidence their patron Lord Westfield has given Nicholas Bracewell some secret documents that must be delivered to and English doctor at Rudolph's court, a man named Talbot Royden. While on route to Prague, one of the actor's is brutally murdered during their first performance. The journey starts to become a nightmare, particularly when Nicholas realises that he was the intended victim. Nicholas needs all his skills to rescue the company from the world of danger and deceit they have found themselves in.