THE BARTHOLOMEW FAIR MURDERS

by Leonard Tourney ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 1986

Tourney's fine Elizabethan-mystery series continues--as clothier Matthew Stock, constable of Chelmsford, goes with shrewd wife Joan to London's Bartholomew Fair. . .and finds himself involved with a series of grisly murders, plus an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth herself. The mayhem begins when a mutilated body is found near the bear-baiting arena run by Matthew's old chum Ned Babcock. Did Samson the bear do the killing? Matthew suspects not. And the reader knows not--since we've also been following the story of young Gabriel Stubbs, a Puritan religious psychopath who works as a bear-garden assistant, murders savagely whenever his ""voices"" so command him, and dreams of destroying the she-Satan who is Queen of England. It doesn't take long, in fact, before Matthew figures out that Gabriel is the killer. But then Gabriel himself turns up dead (drowned in malmsey); so does Ned Babcock. And Matthew must unmask a second, non-insane murderer--while it's up to Joan to prevent Gabriel's posthumous messenger from attacking the ailing, visiting Queen. Despite some anachronistic dialogue and some artsy, unnecessary past-tense/present-tense shiftings: superior period mystery--with rich, gritty atmosphere (e.g., the malodorous bear-garden), piquant characterization, and solidly layered plotting.

Pub Date: June 30, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION