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105+ Works 1,615 Members 53 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Author M. J. Trow was born in Ferndale, South Wales in 1949. He graduated from King's College, London and Cambridge. He writes the Lestrade Mystery series and the Peter Maxwell Mystery series. He has also written biographies on Kit Marlowe, Vlad the Impaler, Boudicca and Cnut. He also teaches show more history and politics at Ryde High School. He currently lives on the Isle of Wight. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the name: M J Trow

Image credit: Fantastic Fiction

Series

Works by M. J. Trow

Dark Entry (2011) 58 copies
Boudicca: The Warrior Queen (2003) 49 copies
A Brief History of Vampires (2010) 40 copies
Lestrade and the Ripper (1988) 39 copies
Lestrade and the Leviathan (1987) 31 copies
Maxwell's Inspection (2003) 25 copies
Silent Court (2012) 25 copies
Cnut: Emperor of the North (2005) 25 copies
The Thames Torso Murders (2011) 24 copies
Maxwell's House (1994) 23 copies
Witch Hammer (2012) 22 copies
Crimson Rose (2013) 22 copies
Lestrade and the Magpie (1991) 22 copies
The Blue and the Grey (2014) 20 copies
Maxwell's Flame (1995) 19 copies
Scorpion's Nest (2013) 17 copies
Maxwell's Grave (2004) 17 copies
Eleventh Hour (2017) 17 copies
Traitor's Storm (2014) 16 copies
Four Thousand Days (2021) 16 copies
Maxwell's War (1999) 15 copies
Maxwell's Revenge (2009) 15 copies
Maxwell's Reunion (2001) 15 copies
Maxwell's Movie (1997) 15 copies
Maxwell's Match (2002) 15 copies
Maxwell's Point (2007) 14 copies
Maxwell's Ride (2000) 14 copies
Maxwell's Mask (2005) 14 copies
Secret World (2015) 13 copies
Maxwell's Chain (2008) 13 copies
Maxwell's Island (2011) 13 copies
Maxwell's Crossing (2012) 13 copies
Maxwell's Retirement (2010) 12 copies
Maxwell's Curse (2000) 12 copies
The Island (2017) 10 copies
Maxwell's Academy (2015) 9 copies
Maxwell's Return (2014) 9 copies
Queen's Progress (2018) 9 copies
Black Death (2019) 9 copies
The Angel (2016) 8 copies
The Knight's Tale (2021) 8 copies
The Circle (2016) 8 copies
"Let Him Have It, Chris" (1990) 6 copies
Murder by Mistake (2012) 5 copies
Maxwell's Summer (2020) 4 copies
Richard III in the North (2020) 4 copies
Britannia: The Wall (2020) 4 copies
The Yeoman's Tale (2022) 4 copies
Maxwell's Zoom (2022) 3 copies
The Ring (2019) 3 copies
The Clerk's Tale (2022) 2 copies
Elcid 1 copy
Cnut 1 copy

Associated Works

The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper (1999) — Contributor — 207 copies
Crime Through Time: Original Tales of Historical Mystery (1997) — Contributor — 129 copies
The Mammoth Book of Comic Crime (2002) — Contributor — 47 copies
New Crimes 1 (1989) — Contributor — 20 copies

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Reviews

Historical fiction featuring Christopher Marlowe as Queen Elizabeth’s advance scout to find a route for her tour of the English countryside, where the queen and her many attendants become visible to her subjects. This tour was known as a “progress,” and included sequential visits to the country houses of nobles. They entertained the queen with masques (stage performances), speeches, music, food, and drink. During Marlowe’s advance visits, several unexplained deaths and unpleasant incidents took place. The story revolved around solving the mystery of these incidents.

I found this novel quite unique in its setting and storyline. The author provided vivid descriptions of England in 1591 using period-appropriate language, in the time of Shakespeare (spelled Shaxsper) and Marlowe. I was interested to find out how these seemingly unrelated events were eventually explained. This story has an extremely long build-up and a quick denouement. I found it a solid story that transported me into the time-period. Recommended to readers of historical fiction of the Elizabethan era.

I received an advance reader's copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a candid review.
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Castlelass | 1 other review | Oct 30, 2022 |
1905 London. Mural Fazakerley, medium, has been found dead. Ruled an accidental death until another medium is discovered dead. But what could be the possible motive. D.S. Andrew Crawford with the help of ex D.I. Edmund Reid and Doctor Margaret Murray investigate.
An entertaining well-plotted and well-written Edwardian mystery. A good addition to this series with its interesting and likeable main characters.
 
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Vesper1931 | Oct 29, 2022 |
M.J. Trow is one of my go-to authors when I'm in the mood for an historical mystery. She has a number of series, some of which I like better than others—and her new(ish) Geoffrey Chaucer series is my current favorite. These mysteries aren't cozy, nor are they blood-soaked. The plots have enough going on that they don't drag. Most enjoyable, they're populated by a cast of characters who are engaging and who bring with them all sorts of foibles.

I found The Yeoman's Tale particularly interesting since it's set during the peasants' uprising led by Wat Tyler and John Ball. For a brief historical moment, class-based England seemed on the verge of sweeping change—and the events of the time, even if they didn't result in sweeping change are both fascinating and unsettling. Having Geoffrey Chaucer thrown into the mix makes it all the more enjoyable.

If you're someone like me, always looking for historical mystery series with interesting settings and interesting central characters, you'll want to check out The Yeoman's Tale.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
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Sarah-Hope | Aug 1, 2022 |
I had two disadvantages when I read this book, first that it's the eight book in the series about Kit Marlowe and I have not read any previous book. And the second, this is an era that just doesn't really my thing. However, I went through a period when EVERYTHING looked interesting on NetGalley. That means I have a lot of books to go through that I, in hindsight perhaps should have passed over. This one is one of them.

Anyhow, this is a story about a murder, and it's the Queen's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham that has been poisoned. Walsingham former righthand man orders Kit Marlowe to find out who killed Walsingham. So, Kit is off consulting scientists and thinkers of the School of Night to find out what poison it was and who murdered the spymaster.

I found myself not really taken with the story, actually now and then I felt a bit lost even. Like some thought processes from Kit's side took place outside the story in the book. It could just be me of course, not really finding neither the plot nor the characters especially interesting. On the plus side, Shakespeare shows up now and then in the story, not a terribly good playwriter apparently...

Eleventh Hour is probably a great book for fans of the era and those that love this series. I, however, will not bother with more books in this series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
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MaraBlaise | 2 other reviews | Jul 23, 2022 |

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