The Trip to Jerusalem [Hardcover]

Edward Marston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

London is under siege by the Black Plague, closing its theaters and losing its frightened citizens to the countryside. Lord Westfield's Men decide upon the relative safety of the road and a tour of the North. Before they can pack up and depart, one player in the troupe is murdered.
As they travel, the company of players managed by its bookholder, Nicholas Bracewell, learns that their arch-rivals, Banbury's Men, have been pirating their best works. Hoping to shake off Banbury's Men, actor Lawrence Firethorn eventually leads his troupe to York where all is revealed in a thrilling performance.

Originally published in the U.S. in 1990 by St. Martin's Press, The Trip to Jerusalem is the third Nicholas Bracewell Elizabethan mystery following The Queen's Head and The Merry Devils. The most recent Bracewell from St. Martin's Press is The Wanton Angel (0-312-24116-X)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marston ( The Merry Devils ) here skillfully develops an engaging tale of murder, politics and general mayhem focused on the travels and tribulations of Westfield's Men, a 16th-century, London-based troupe. As the Great Plague decimates the city, the right to stage plays, always precarious, has been revoked. In an effort to find work, Lawrence Firethorn, the group's leader, takes his contentious crew on the road. Misfortune dogs their every step. Banbury's Men, a rival yet inferior company, purloins Westfield's plays, costumes and even players. Westfield also finds itself enmeshed in the vicious battle raging between the Church of England and the recently disenfranchised Catholics. The climax occurs at an inn in the city of York called "The Trip to Jerusalem." Marston uses period dialogue; it is cleverly handled and easily understood. A historically authentic depiction of life in England is lightly woven into the main story, and a delightfully ribald flavor freshens many scenes.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

EDWARD MARSTON was born and brought up in South Wales. A full-time writer for over thirty years, he has worked in radio, film, television and the theatre. Prolific and highly successful, he is equally at home writing children's books or literary criticism, plays or biographies and the settings for his crime novels range from the world of professional golf to the compilation of the Domesday Survey. He is also a former Chairman of the Crime Writers Association.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312051743
• ISBN-13: 978-0312051747
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,949,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Third in the Elizabethan Theatre Series, November 29, 2006

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trip to Jerusalem (Missing Mysteries) (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.

This is the third in the series of Books featuring Nicholas Bracewell, a member of an Elizabethan players company called Lord Westfield's Men. A group of actors who perform at both theatre's and also the inns in and surround London. Nicholas not only has the job of Bookholder, a very important position in the Elizabethan theatre, but also has become somewhat of a detective, who in previous books has been able to solve murders and mystery that seem to overtake the band of actors.

4.0 out of 5 stars The plague, treachery and murder, November 3, 2010

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Trip to Jerusalem (Hardcover)

First Sentence: Enemies surrounded them.

Bookholder Nicholas Bracewell and the theatre company of Lord Westfield's Men decide to leave London in an effort to avoid the plague, which seem already to have felled one of the troupe's members. More the plague troubles the troupe. They find their plays have been given to a rival company, who are performing them on the road just ahead. When a young player is kidnapped, Nicholas is determined to learn who is out to sabotage his troupe.

Although I am not as big a fan of Marston's "Elizabethan Theater" books as I am his "Domesday" books, this was still a very enjoyable read. Nicholas Bracewell is an intriguing character about whom we learn a bit more and who grows as a character with each book. He is the core of reason and sanity in the world-wind of artistic personalities and the vanity of actors. His background of sailing and fighting with Sir Francis Drake make him a strong, credible investigator.

Marston fine eye for history is well portrayed in aspects. From the dialogue, to the vagaries of an actor's life on the road, a look behind the scenes of Elizabethan theater and the dangers of the political and religious times; Marston doesn't "pretty-up" the period but helps us understand the challenges of living during that time. At the same time, I appreciate Martson's humor and the bombastic personalities of some of the characters which enliven and lighten the plot.

This was a short, light, fascinating read that I very much enjoyed and series with which I shall continue.

THE TRIP TO JERUSALEM (His Mys, Nicholas Bracewell, England, Elizabethan) - Good+
Marston, Edward, 3rd in Elizabeth Theater Series
St. Martin's Press, ©1990, US Hardcover - ISBN; 0312051743