The Mad Courtesan - Softcover

y romp, solidly grounded on fascinating historical detail." Kirkus Reviews
The axe murder of gentleman player Sebastian Carrick is only the first of many bitter blows to strike the celebrated acting troupe of Westfield's Men. In these straits, only one man has the wit to keep the company afloat -- stage manager and company mainstay Nicholas Bracewell. And as Good Queen Bess sinks ever-closer to death, only clever Nicholas can find the connection between the troupe's misfortunes and the shadow that is falling over all of England . . . .

Keith Miles, aka Edward Marston and Martin Inigo, came from Wales to read Modern History at Oxford. He has been a university lecturer, radio, television, and theatre dramatist, and in addition to writing has worked as an actor, director, and dramatist. He is the author of two mystery series, one Elizabethan in background, the other revolving around the Domesday census of 1086 A.D., and has written mysteries with golf and sports backgrounds under his real name as well as Murder in Prespective, 1997. His Elizabethan novel, The Roaring Boy, was a 1996 Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee for Best Novel. The author is a well known host and raconteur at mystery events and is the 1997 Chairman of the Crime Writers Association. When not travelling or fulfilling speaking engagements, he lives in rural isolation in Kent.