Gooden, Phillip – AN HONORABLE MURDER

[LJ Roberts]

AN HONORABLE MURDER (Historical-England-1600s) – G+
Gooden, Phillip – 6^th in series
Constable, 2005- UK Hardcover – ISBN 1841196940

King James and Queen Anne are now on the throne, the Spanish are coming to London to sign the treaty ending the war with Spain and Burbage’s company of players, the King’s Men, have been asked to perform a Masque as part of the celebration. Actor Nicholas Reville has been hired by a man he believes part of the King’s Privy Council, to watch those who are being part of the Masque, as it will include players, Royals, and members of both the English and Spanish parties, for anything unusual. Unusual events do take place; particularly when a prop breaks killing a noble. Was it an accident?

Nick Reville is a very likable character, a bit bumbling, both in his investigative skills and his romantic ones. Told in Nick’s voice, the story provides a realistic picture of Elizabethan/Jacobean London. The narration and dialogue has flavor of the period and the puns for which I’ve come to know Gooden’s writing. Gooden mixes his fictional and historical characters seamlessly, but using the historical characters, such as Shakespeare, in secondary roles. The mystery is a classic mystery, a death has occurred, there are a number of possible suspects and it’s up to Nick to determine the killer. Each book in this series focuses on one of Shakespeare’s plays. In this case, it is “Othello,” and the connection is wonderfully done. I found this a delightful book in a very good series.