Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Stratford: As Told By Anne Hathaway Shakespeare [Hardcover]

Audrey Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery | Publication Date: March 21, 2005

"When a famous man dies," says Anne Hathaway Shakespeare, "it's always the men who write about his life. Why don't they ask the wife?" And so she tells the story "the way it was," including their early days, William's rise to success as a playwright, and his involvement in the treason that threatened the life of Queen Elizabeth I. Anne and Will's marriage is tested by distance and his fame, but when Will's boyhood friend, the handsome and arrogant Richard Quiney, is murdered in the garden of the Shakespeare home in Stratford-upon-Avon and Will himself is accused of the crime, the family faces their most trying time yet. Among their circle of friends and family, plenty of people had reason to wish Richard dead, but it wasn't until Anne turned "detective" that the case was finally solved. A delightful tour of Elizabethan England makes Murder in Stratford a must-read for all fans of the Bard.

Audrey Peterson fell in love with England when, as Professor of English at California State University at Long Beach, she traveled there to pursue research for scholarly publication, so it is no surprise that all of her mystery novels are set in England. Audrey lives in Huntington Beach, California, near her daughters and two grandchildren.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this curious book, William Shakespeare is accused of murder and is ultimately cleared of the charge by his wife, Anne Hathaway Shakespeare. The mystery, hwoever, is only a small part of the story. The book mainly details Shakespeare's life from Anne's point of view. From the couple's first meeting and marriage, through the birth of their children, to Shakespeare's success as an actor and playwright, the plot follows Shakespeare's life in London while Anne remains in Stratford waiting for his infrequent visits. On one of these visits, an old friend of Shakespeare's is murdered at a party at the Bard's home, and a guest says she saw Shakespeare with the murder weapon. Shakespeare's alibi is that he was talking with an elderly man during the time period, but this stranger cannot be found. This well-researched story lacks a strong mystery plot but will connect with genre fans who are also interested in the Bard. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Audrey Peterson is the author of intriguing mysteries . . ."
-- The Drood Review of Mystery (UNKNOWN )

"William Shakespeare's widow sets the story straight about a murder charge brought against her late husband and what really transpired. She begins at the very start of her relationship with Will: how they met, courted, and married and how they came to know Richard Quiney, the family friend eventually killed in Will's backyard. Anne, nearly the intellectual equal of her husband (who spent most of his time in London), becomes a successful detective. This fanciful, low-key, and entertaining conjecture provides glimpses of Shakespeare's could-have-been family life and should appeal to many, especially those who enjoy the Elizabethan mysteries of Kathy Lynn Emerson, Karen Harper, and Edward Marston."
--Library Journal, March 2005 (Library Journal )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: Five Star; 1 edition (March 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594142734
• ISBN-13: 978-1594142734
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,575 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine Elizabethan amateur sleuth, April 5, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Stratford: As Told By Anne Hathaway Shakespeare (Hardcover)

In Stratford upon Avon, though she is several years older than Will Shakespeare, who works in his father's Glover shop, he courts and marries Anne Hathaway. Over the next few years, they seem happy together though Will who studied law was bored. When he had an opportunity to join a traveling troupe, he leaves his spouse and children behind though he sends money and visits infrequently.

Will's fame as a writer begins to grow, but on one of his trips home, his boyhood pal, the odious arrogant Richard Quiney, who even tried to boorishly seduce his friend's wife Anne, is murdered. The corpse is found in the Shakespeare garden. The constable assumes Will, being cuckold, killed the man in a crime of passion. Anne believes otherwise and is determined to prove her spouse is innocent. As the list of those with motives to kill the loathsome Richard seems to grow, almost as if the entire town and surrounding villagers had a reason to murder him, the killer watches Anne to insure she does not get to close to the truth.

MURDER IN STRATFORD is as much an amateur sleuth tale as it is a historical fiction novel. The story line is told from the perspective of Anne but not just about the who-done-it but her life even before Will courts her. This enables the audience to obtain a full picture of her and much insight into the Bard. Her investigation is fun to follow but takes a back seat to her life's story so much so that Shakespeare lovers and the Elizabethan crowd will appreciate this fine tale more so than those who prefer a pure mystery.

Harriet Klausner

2.0 out of 5 stars Elizabethan England, May 17, 2009

By 

Lyn Reese (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Stratford: As Told By Anne Hathaway Shakespeare (Hardcover)

Anne, the wife of William Shakespeare, recounts her life with him from their marriage in 1582 to his death in 1616. Her observations mainly center on her relationship with Will since she most often was tucked away in the country town of Stratford while he followed his calling in London. The murder occurs toward the end of the story when an attractive but unpleasant neighbor, Richard Quiney, is killed in Shakespeare's garden. Will is accused of the deed, leaving Anne to figure out who, among all those who held a grudge against Richard, was the real perpetrator.

Although we know little about the historic Anne, Peterson illustrates some of the obstacles Elizabethen period women faced. Upon marriage, a wife could not control her own money and property, and girls had little access to the type of formal education available to boys. On a whole, however, the book reads more like a fictionalized history lesson than engaging literary piece. While it is full of interesting details of, for example, the life of company actors and the London theaters, or the schemes of various known personalities, the rich flavor of the time does not come to life. Often the characters use modern or 19th century working class speech expressions. And the insertion of Anne's opinions and her synopsis of many of Shakespeare's plays sound like the comments of an English teacher rather than his country wife.

In her short Afterword, Peterson refers us to a book by Ian Wilson, "Shakespeare: The Evidence," to find out "what's true and what isn't" in the story. It would have been more useful if she had provided this information for us herself.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Shakespearean murder tale but this time he himself is a suspect, August 24, 2005

By 

Henry G. Moyer "mathematician - bardolater" (Gilbert, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Stratford: As Told By Anne Hathaway Shakespeare (Hardcover)

The author finds a role for about everyone in Shakespeare's life: Anne Hathaway, his three children, the Earl of Southampton, the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth, and the dark lady of the sonnets among others. Hamlet's play-within-the-play, the hints of homosexuality in the sonnets and Essex's attempted coup all appear. Bardolaters can compare the way they see Shakespeare with the author's view.