Colin Falconer

"Try not to make a fool out of yourself the very first day.
You would think this is not a difficult instruction to follow; you would be wrong."

William Shakespeare, cousin to the William Shakespeare arrives in London from Stratford in hopes of finding employment in anything but glove making. Secretly, he wishes to follow his cousin into the world of acting; but with the plague about, the theatre is far from gainful employment. Instead, Will immediately finds trouble at a London bar where he show more is mistaken for his well-known cousin. The Lady Elizabeth Talbot is searching for her ne're-do-well husband, Henry. It was rumored that Henry had spoken to a William Shakespeare before disappearing. Will is absconded by the Lady Elizabeth and instead of leaving with his life in tact, he decides to assist the beautiful Elizabeth Talbot find out what has happened to her husband. Now, with some money in his pocket, Will finds himself going deep into London's underbelly to find out what has happened to the husband of a woman he is quickly falling in love with.

This was a fun and fast historical mystery set in one of my favorite historical time periods. One of the best parts for me was seeing London described by newcomer, Will. He is taken with the city, but also taken advantage of at every turn and placed in some of the worst parts of London during the plague; still he decided to persevere. Even though William Shakespeare, cousin to the playwright, might be fictional, the description of the world he was placed in seemed on point with history. From the plague to the actual William Shakespeare's trails with the theatre at the time and the disappearance of Kit Marlowe, there is a lot of actually history packed in. Will's adventures took a humorous tone and though he didn't think himself as the smartest man, it was great to see him grown in his street smarts as he bumbled through London trying to find Henry Talbot. The mystery itself wasn't very complex and there are not a lot of clues to follow, but it was still entertaining. I would be interested in reading more about Will's detecting skills and his relationship with Lady Talbot since she left him in a precarious position.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

Note: this book is listed under the incorrect name on librarything. The review is for "Dark Lady", not "The School of Night".

This is book #2 in the continuing story of William Shakespeare...no, not that one. William is a strapping young man from the country who is bunking with his not-quite-famous-yet cousin Will who is struggling to make a name for himself. William just wants to stay in London, find employment & try to forget the lovely Lady Elizabeth Walsall.
She stole his heart in the show more previous book but this is 1590's England & there are rules. She must marry someone from her own class & that does not include a penniless country bumpkin. now if she could just get her heart to see sense.
William has accidentally become a "discoverer", a sort of Elizabethan PI. It seems the rich have just as many secrets as the poor. The difference is they can pay handsomely to have them quietly dealt with.
And so William takes the job of retrieving a letter for a wealthy foreigner. But it's soon clear he wasn't given all the facts as the trail leads to Poley, friend of the cruel Lord Essex & spy master to the royal court.
It's only 182 pages so I won't give away more of the plot. Adding to William's problems are frequent run-ins with a young pickpocket, helping Will with his career (while dodging his frisky mistress) & the reappearance of Lady Elizabeth in London. It's well written in language suitable for the time but very readable.
William is a sympathetic & likeable character with a self deprecating wit & surprising insight into the human condition. In a clever twist, he's actually the one prone to spouting poetic comments & cousin Will doesn't hesitate to steal his best lines.
Descriptions of the gritty slums & desperate lives of the poor are wonderfully evocative. It makes for an atmospheric read as the teeming streets & rat infested back alleys come to life. The prevailing xenophobia of the time is also touched on but lightened with a running gag of William being mistaken for a frenchman.
This fast paced & frequently humorous shortie will transport you from your favourite reading chair for a couple of hours & keep you entertained. A big twist at the end guarantees I'll be on the lookout for book #3 to see where William's adventures take him next. show less

3.5 stars

"You know, you wonder how much any of us really know anyone else, even those very closest to us" says George Mason, the father of a young woman found murdered in her basement. It's a common theme in this British police procedural where many of the characters have perfected the art of presenting an acceptable facade to the world.
This is book #2 featuring DI Madeleine Fox of the Met's Major Incident Team (following "Rough Justice"). Maddy is 34, single & good at her job. Sure, there show more are days she's like to smack colleague DS Terry James who seems to be going through puberty again. Maybe he'll get it right this time. And they're all still getting used to new boss, Greg Mills.
The team is tested when they arrive at the scene of a young woman murdered & left displayed in a room tricked out for S&M games. Seems she was living a double life...attractive public relations executive by day, dom/sub mistress by night.
In alternating chapters we meet James Carlton, an urbane politician who seems to have it all But he's a fraud. He knows he should be grateful for his privileged life but can't help tempting fate occasionally. It's all about the thrill of the risk.
The story continues to be told on 2 fronts: Maddy & her team as they investigate 2 murders & following James as his world begins to unravel. Because of this, we are more privy to the facts than the characters as the story lines develop & gradually merge.
I really enjoyed this. It's tightly plotted with fleshed out characters & lots of action. The opening scene grabs you & even pacing keeps you turning the pages.
Maddy's a likeable & original character. Instead of the standard portrayal of a female cop as strident & bitchy, she comes across as capable of holding her own on the job but not immune to self doubt about her skills. Friends are settling down & popping out babies, other relationships are falling apart & Maddy starts to wonder about some of the choices she's made.
Sections dealing with her personal life round out the character but never overwhelm the main thrust of the plot which is the criminal investigation. But I did subtract half a star due to the ending & a decision she makes about a relationship. It was just plain dumb & until then, I really thought she was smarter than that.
All in all, a quick well written book that will hold your attention. Should appeal to fans of Peter James, Alex Gray & Brenda Chapman. show less

Six-word review: Absorbing adventure-romance spanning medieval Asia.

Extended review:

Silk Road is an exciting action tale that makes the most of its dramatic social, cultural, and topographical settings, which are well integrated into the story.

In the mid-thirteenth century a Knight Templar named Josseran Sarrazini sets off eastward from the Mediterranean across Asia on a mission for his order. The ancient Silk Road, though well traveled, was still a rugged route that took months to traverse show more through terrain beset by dangers of every kind. The warrior daughter of a Tatar chieftain is assigned to guide the knight across a portion of the treacherous domain controlled by her people at a time when the vast empire of the Khans is threatened by political upheaval.

As Josseran's progressive disenchantment with his mission comes into conflict with his pragmatic commitment to the Templar order, he begins to see that he has nothing to go home for. Meanwhile, his attention is occupied by the daily battle for survival and the allure of the chieftain's daughter.

This well-researched blend of history and geography with romance and adventure delivers a strong sense of time and place and cultural diversity. Set in a time of transition, when the rivalry between brothers (grandsons of Genghis Khan) for the title of Khan of Khans causes the breakdown of a united empire, the novel vividly depicts two strains of the race of Tatars: the traditional nomadic peoples of Central Asia and the Chinese-acculturated khans. It is culturally nonjudgmental for the most part, although the Dominican friars look bad, and so do the Chinese Tatars.

I'm not much of a reader of romances, but there is enough else going on to keep that aspect of the story from dominating it. Instead, it weaves in and out and adds an intimate dimension to a story that is in many other respects a rich sensory experience with an inherently cinematic quality. This is, in fact, one of those novels that clamor to be a movie. I can't help suspecting that the author kept the screenplay in mind as he set down his scenes and action. The last glimpse of Josseran is an extreme long shot that gives us just enough to carry forward in our imagination.

Oddly, there is a strange shift at the end. The plot takes a sudden turn that completes one storyline well enough but nevertheless seems to throw the structure off balance, like adding that one last log to the woodpile, the one that turns out to be one too many.

As I sometimes like to do, I read this novel in tandem with a related work of nonfiction, in this case Valerie Hansen's The Silk Road: A New History. I found that each amplified the other, one supplying context and concrete detail and the other lending much color and movement. By now, two months later, the two have merged and mellowed nicely in my mind, leaving me with a luminous mental picture of a time and place that had thitherto been dark to me.

What else I happened to be reading at the same time was The Martian, and there I found unlooked-for parallels. Like Mark Watney on Mars, Josseran embodies both of the two basic plot structures: "someone takes a trip" and "a stranger comes to town." He is compelled to take an unexpected journey, and for some long part of it all he wants is to get home. He must be resourceful and adaptive to meet changing conditions and survive mortal challenges in a harsh environment. In both, the setting is crucial to story. Unlike Mark, Josseran finds guides all along the way; but Mark has all of NASA in his corner, as well as an arsenal of equipment. Also unlike Mark, Josseran loses his impetus to accomplish his mission when it becomes meaningless. In both, however, there is a strong echo of the classic hero's journey described by Campbell, the mythic quest to reach the goal and return with the elixir. No matter how many times we hear it, it always makes a good story.

(Kindle edition) show less