Mask of Night [Hardcover]

Philip Gooden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 29, 2004

When the Black Death strikes London, all the theatres are closed down by order of the Privy Council. The Chamberlain's Men, the theatre company Nick Revill is part of, takes up an invitation to play in Oxford. However, it seems that the plague has followed them - but not all deaths are as they seem.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

No good idea ever goes unimitated. Thus, recent years have introduced several mystery series built around disaster-bedeviled Elizabethan theater troupes. The most consistently entertaining of these may be Edward Marston's stories about Westfield's Men and resourceful stage manager Nicholas Bracewell (The Vagabond Clown), but in close competition is Simon Hawke's series starring a young William Shakespeare and his friend Symington "Tuck" Smythe III as amateur sleuths (The Merchant of Vengeance). The Bard does a turn too in Philip Gooden’s Mask of Night, the fifth lighthearted puzzler to feature actor-cum-detective Nick Revill.

With London bracing for twin tragedies--the imminent death of Queen Elizabeth I and the spread of bubonic plague--Revill and his fellow members of Chamberlain's Men hie off in 1603 to Oxford. There they are to perform Romeo and Juliet for the benefit of two feud-prone families about to be linked through marriage. But the pestilence follows these performers west, making them less than welcome in the college town, and what joy should have arisen from the nuptials of William Sadler and Sarah Constant is soured by the locked-room knifing of a local doctor and aspiring thespian, who had commissioned the company's Oxford appearance. As he did in The Pale Companion and Alms for Oblivion, Revill--already alert to a poisoning threat against the bride, wary of Shakespeare's evident dalliance with a tavern keeper's striking spouse, and spooked by the crepuscular roamings of men attired as giant black birds--must do his unheroic best to separate happenstance from homicide. This will require figuring out not only how a corpse changed his shoes, but what relationship the perishing of a formidable old nurse has to do with "naughty men’s cherries."

British author Gooden has some trouble here keeping all of his plot lines lively; one, concerning Sarah Constant's envious cousin, is particularly disappointing for how much it promises but how little it delivers. Yet Mask of Night nimbly captures the societal arcana of 17th-century England, with its con men profiting from faked sicknesses and physicians fusing science with superstition. Endowed of circuitous intrigues and a perspicacious protagonist, this novel is--to quote the Bard himself--"as merry as the day is long." --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gooden may be the best history-mystery writer going. He deftly mixes acts of God with the artistic efforts of men in his series starring a poor player in Shakespeare's acting company, the Chamberlain's Men. In the fifth Nick Revill mystery, the plague, Queen Elizabeth's declining health, the approach of Lent, and a rift between two noble families all serve to prompt the Chamberlain's Men to hotfoot it out of London and set up temporary shop in Oxford. There the players are to perform Shakespeare's crowd-pleaser Romeo and Juliet at the request of the Bard's old friend, who is trying to avert bloodshed between feuding families. But portents of doom abound: the plague appears on the outskirts of Oxford, a young woman belonging to the rival families asks Revill to watch for signs of poisoning in her sister, and men wearing demonic-looking masks crowd the night streets. When Shakespeare's friend is found dead in a locked backstage room on opening night, the mystery moves into high gear. Revill is a steadily developing, complex character who functions both as a commentator on the times and a guide to the intricacies of performing at the Globe and on the road. Bard buffs will appreciate his insider savvy, but there is much to enjoy here even for readers who don't know a quarto from a folio. Marvelous. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Constable; First Edition edition (February 29, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 1841196932
• ISBN-13: 978-1841196930
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,146,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gooden shows the "light in yon window"!, April 18, 2008

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mask of Night: A Shakespearean Murder Mystery (Hardcover)

His Elizabethan "mysteries" featuring young Nick Revill have all been entertaining reading--so far in this series--and "Mask of Night" lives up to Philip Gooden's reputation. Fast paced and entwined with innuendos, nuanced with intrigue, and, of course, a conclusive denouement, this episode captivates the reader from page one.

It's early 17th century (1603) and the plague is raising havoc, not to mention taking many vicitims!, and so the Chamberlain's Men decide to leave London for the hinterlands and end up in Oxford, whereupon they have been invited to play "Romeo and Juliet" as a special favor to an old acquaintance of William Shakespeare. It's pertinent, the Bard tells Nick, in that there are two houses in Oxford, quite resembling the Montagues and Capulets, he hints, and thus hopefully this play will bring the two groups together as the daughter of one and the son of the other have pledged to marry each other.

Thus, with a safe basis for this novel (all the books in the series has a Shakespearean play as its theme/foundation), Gooden lets his characters take off, certainly the reader will be excused for assuming that romantic tragedy will somehow play into the story. Granted, there are several directions in which the plot takes, as murder, mayhem, and malice play their integral roles. The secondary theme, which actually takes center stage--is the plague itself. At this point in history, very little was known scienfically or medically about it and thus superstition, ignorance, and even a lot of greed become major players, as it goes around the world with its death and havoc. Thus, early on murder becomes the vehicle for the book and with Revill's dedication--and with a little help from his boss Shakespeare and a couple of his colleagues, Nick slowly and surely diagnoses the case and, naturally, solves the crimes.

One aspect of Gooden's books in this series is his willingness to look at various issues of that time, among them the concern that their Good Queen Bess is dying. She's been queen for what seems forever and thus a great air of uncertainty (which can be spelled "intrigue")is evident. The folks are uneasy about what is to come. In addition, Gooden's wry sense of humor helps lighten the issues, although not to the point of irrelevance nor to render farsical these social, religious, economic, and political issues.

Readers--and appreciators--of historical fiction--light ones--will find this series entertaining and captivating. Using Shakespeare, as two or three other series writers do, is a good idea and one that keeps this reader coming back for more.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book!, April 9, 2005

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mask of Night: A Shakespearean Murder Mystery (Hardcover)

Gooden offers a wonderful look into Shakespeare's time. I was delighted that The Bard is a secondary character rather than the investigator, and that one does not need a great knowledge of Shakespeare or his plays to enjoy the book. It is a classic mystery with clues and suspense along the way. I loved the character of Nick Revill and didn't feel hampered by having started the series late into it. This was the first I've read in this series, but have already ordered all the others.