The Laughing Hangman (Nicholas Bracewell, 8) - Softcover

Marston, Edward

3.91

233 ratings by Goodreads

9780749015954: The Laughing Hangman (Nicholas Bracewell, 8)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749015950 ISBN 13: 9780749015954

Publisher: Allison & Busby, 2013

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A laughing hangman turns the stage into the gallows... When Nicholas Bracewell finds himself once again in the parlour of his lost love, Anne Hendrik, he was not expecting her entreaties to embroil him in the murder of a beloved choir master. Between tales of cruelty, forgotten maps of London and a butcher determined to rescue his son, it is yet another mystery for the book keeper to untangle. But will his quest endanger Lord Westfield’s Men? As their latest play, The Misfortunes of Marriage, threatens to break them apart beneath the playwright’s own belligerent ribaldry, the threat of the hangman stalks ever closer. And with every step his laughter rings with the power to turn even the hallowed stage into the gallows.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Edward Marston has written over a hundred books, including some non fiction. He is best known for his hugely successful Railway Detective series. His other current series are the Home Front Detective , set in the Great War, and the Bow Street Rivals, featuring identical twin detectives during the Regency.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Once again, Lord Westfield's Men, an Elizabethan theatrical troupe, and Nicholas Bracewell, its manager, are embroiled in crisis and murder (The Roaring Boy, 1995, etc.). Westfield's must compete with the nearby Blackfriars Theatre, whose company is made up of young boys from the Royal Choir, legally pressed into service by the Master of the Chapel--presently the saintly Cyril Fulbeck- -and managed by suave Raphael Parsons. The most talented boy in Parsons's company is Philip Robinson, son of butcher Ambrose. The father desperately wants his son back and has enlisted neighbor Anne Hendrick to help. Although estranged for a year from onetime lover Nicholas Bracewell, Anne finds him thrilled to see her again and willing to address Robinson's problem. But on his ensuing visit to Blackfriars, he's horrified to discover the body of Cyril Fulbeck hanging from the stage rafters, amid the sound of maniacal laughter. Through it all, Westfield's Men is staging The Misfortunes of Marriage by Jonas Applegarth, a gifted writer so malevolently unpleasant that other companies have cast him out. Nicholas finds his body, too--killed in the same way. Leading man Lawrence Firethorn; his lusty wife Margy; shy playwright Edmund Hoode, whose dream of romance will become a frightening reality, and other troupe members go their constantly squabbling way at the Queen's Head Inn, their longtime venue. Meantime, identity and motivation of the murderer, when finally unmasked by Nicholas, are fairly predictable, but less than convincing. Vibrant and readable, but overstuffed with subplots and tenuous relationships: middling Marston, then--fun, especially for his fans, but less than his best. -- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.