Publisher's Weekly Review
Why was Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe fatally stabbed in an English inn in 1593? That enduring puzzle gets new answers in this taut thriller from Judd (the Charles Thoroughgood series), framed as an account by Thomas Phelippes, a friend of Marlowe's and a fellow intelligencer, in response to questions from an unidentified interrogator while Phelippes is incarcerated in the Tower of London in 1623. Phelippes, whose reliability is uncertain given his desire to get himself freed, traces his history as an agent for Queen Elizabeth's legendary spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham, specializing in breaking codes and forging documents. He recruits Marlowe at Cambridge University to join Walsingham's efforts to protect the queen from a variety of murderous conspirators. Superior prose is a plus ("Most of us are like fishes in the lives of others, a silvery flank glimpsed once and never seen again," Phelippes says by way of explaining his lack of knowledge of an acquaintance). This clever recreation of a complex life stands above the many other fictional explanations for Marlowe's death. Fans of Iain Pears will be engrossed. Agent: Pamela Malpas, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (Feb.)
Booklist Review
Thirty years after the death of playwright, poet, and spy Christopher "Kit" Marlowe, his former handler, Thomas Phelippes, now behind bars, is asked by an emissary of King James to tell all he knows about how Marlowe (1564--93) came to die in a tavern brawl. A tragic accident or something more nefarious? And why is the king so interested at this late date? Phelippes doesn't know the answer to those questions, but he's happy to tell what he does know, hoping that his cooperation may earn him a pardon. Judd's narrative is essentially one long monologue, spoken by Phelippes to his unnamed questioner, but it's surprisingly involving, as the imprisoned man's words create a vivid picture of late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth- century England, a cauldron of in-fighting among rival courtiers, fueled by religious conflict, espionage, and government-sanctioned torture (we learn, among other gruesome details, what it means to be "drawn and quartered"). This is hardly the first novel about Marlowe (Kit stars in his own series by M. J. Trow), but Judd's tantalizingly ambiguous portrait of the tortured dramatist and man of action may be the most textured.
Library Journal Review
For centuries, it's been reported that the famed Elizabethan playwright and British spy Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death in a brawl at an inn in South London in May 1593, for unknown reasons. Marlowe's short life and his excesses have left a mark on history, but details surrounding his mysterious death are scarce, and many theories exist as to exactly what happened. Novelist and biographer Judd ("Charles Thoroughgood" series) deftly takes up the story 30 years after the playwright's death, introducing Marlowe's friend Thomas Phelippes, who might know what really happened. The problem is that Phelippes is being held prisoner by King James in the Tower of London. The king is intrigued by the prisoner's claims and wants to know every detail Phelippes is able to recall. But as the story unfolds, the details unveil the complexities of Marlowe's proclivities, ranging from political machinations to a hidden gay relationship. But does Phelippes have enough information about Marlowe to really gain his freedom? And what exactly does the king intend to do with the information? VERDICT Judd delivers a truly intriguing and well-researched premise in this historical mystery.--Bill Anderson