Anne Rutherford

The first in a series where England celebrates of the restoration of the Stuart Monarch, Charles II, and Suzanne Thornton, doxie and kept woman, decides to take on the operations of the Globe Theatre.

This slow burn investigation centres around the murder of Suzanne's former patron whilst providing much background and scene setting for the period (possibly in anticipation of continued tomes in the series). The characters of Suzanne's old acting troupe are called back from "retirement" or show more places unknown to assist in providing government sanctioned entertainments for the masses. And then - on opening night - a murder is committed - one in which Suzanne investigates to clear not only her name, but those of her son and troupe.

Suzanne is a rather "modern" character - possibly not quite in line with the women of the period - and the author explores her relationships with not only her former patron but also the father of her child, who makes his return with the Merry Monarch.

A questionable solution to the murder ...... well, this is fiction afterall. show less

A pleasant enough mystery, set at a theatre in Restoration England. Though it is a stretch to make the theatre the Globe knowing it didn't exist in Restoration England. Yes, I know, fiction and all that—I did read the author's afterword—but it's such a contradiction to what we do know about theatre at that time. The characters are a little hard to sympathize with, even Suzanne Thornton, the protagonist and amateur detective. As a character she was drawn a little flat and I hope she show more rounds out a bit along the series. Daniel Throckmorton is so dreadful it's hard to see how Suzanne ever could have loved him, even as a girl, which is a little tough because their relationship 20 years later is pivotal to the book and presumably will be in the series, as he owns the theater she leases and runs. Constable Samuel Pepper is a fine addition in the tradition of clueless police who are shown up by the amateur detective. It takes 186 pages for a dead body to appear, which may be a record; most of the book is about Suzanne's history and struggles to make her way in the world. The book does not gloss over how limited and dismal women's options were at the time, without ever becoming didactic about it. There are some fun details about Restoration England and the theatre, but the book is not nearly so richly evocative of the time and place as other historical novels, like Sansom's. I will probably go on to at least one more book in the series mostly because of my interest in the theatre and to see if it fills out a bit; sometimes first in series books are a little thin. show less