Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Widow's Guild by Anna Castle

Sir Francis Bacon sits on a commission charged with uprooting seditious Catholics from Elizabethan England. Meanwhile, one of Bacon's young assistants, Tom Clarady, is implicated in the murder of elderly nobleman and recusant Catholic, Viscount Surdeval, due to Tom's entanglement with the Viscount's young new bride turned widow, Lady Alice (Trumpet). Soon it becomes clear that Viscount Surdeval is not the only prominent recusant to have recently fallen to murder shortly after being questioned by the commission. So begins Bacon's quest to solve the killings, notably at the behest of his overbearing mother and aunt, key members of The Widow's Guild, an organization intent on its own interests.

The Widow's Guild has a strong, intricate plot (with interesting subplots) buttressed by solid historical research. The characters are well-developed and engaging. The dialogue is natural and easy to follow despite holding to Elizabethan conventions. At times there is a slightly frustrating tendency to gloss over in description, dialogue and events that the reader should be shown. For example, in their initial conference with Bacon, Tom and Trumpet are described as contradicting each other to the point that Bacon tunes them out. It would have provided greater depth to the plot and these characters to see them actually start hanging themselves by their own words rather than just be told that they had.

Likewise, there is a slight tendency to provide extensive detail on items that are incidental to the plot (e.g. backstory, settings, clothing, personal preferences). For example, Bacon's carriage ride conversation with the Earl of Essex provides important information that almost gets lost in the additional details provided. Such overt demonstration of historical research might work better in the background, being brought out when directly related to the conversation or action.

That said, there are a delightful number of red herrings to keep the reader guessing and the end reveal still managed to shock. It was an enjoyable and entertaining read. I am curious as to what happens to the characters next.

4 out of 5 stars

 

Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Click for purchase in

USA   UK   Australia  Canada   India

INTERVIEW: Anna Castle

The Flurries Unlimited team was able to have a quick chat with mystery writer Anna Castle about her past successes, her penchant for historical mysteries and her upcoming projects.  This is what we discussed.

FU:  Most of your book takes place in Elizabethan England, investigated by Francis Bacon. Of all the different times and historical people, what inspired you to write about these in particular?

AC: I’m a learning junkie and with historical fiction you can never learn enough. I like periods of great cultural change and wanted a period with a rich vernacular literature. I started Murder by Misrule in 2010, when The Tudors was hot, but I was more inspired by Shakespeare in Love. The Elizabethan period was as light as the Henrician period was dark. I like optimistic periods (although the 1590s were tougher.)

FU: Why mysteries?

AC: The best advice is to write what you read, and that’s my favorite genre. I enjoy constructing plots; that’s the most fun part of the writing process. Also mysteries run in series and I can’t imagine abandoning my characters after only one book.

FU:  Your Lost Hat, Texas Mystery book seems a major departure from the historical genre.  Why the change? Which series do your fans seem to prefer?

AC: I actually started this series first. I’ve read possibly every humorous regional mystery series on Earth and have always enjoyed that genre. I also thought it would be easier to learn the craft by writing something fairly constrained, which is what you get with a small town and first person point of view. And it’s nice to write about a place where I can just look out the window to describe the weather.

FU:   You've written four books so far.  Which is your favourite and why?

AC: I like Death by Disputation, because I adore Christopher Marlowe. He was such an intriguing and brilliant young man and he died so young and so unnecessarily. Everyone who writes in this period ends up needing to write about Kit.

FU:  They say that every character has some of the author in him/her.  Which of your characters is most like you?  In what way?

AC: Maybe Francis Bacon? Not that I’m a genius. His voice is essentially my natural academic voice. I’d rather read a book than go to a party and I’m about as adventurous as a old dog. Certainly none of the young persons I write about is much like me -- they are far too reckless. But the truth is that characters are only like the author in the sense that they derive from the author’s experiences, which includes hearsay and everything they’ve read, exaggerated as far as they can stretch it. Don’t tell your secrets to a novelist!

FU:  So what is on the horizon?  What are your new projects? When is your next new release?

AC: I’m having fun in the new year writing short stories, but I’m not sure yet how those will be disseminated. The next book release will be Flash Memory, number 2 in the Lost Hat, Texas series, coming out in April. I’m planning to launch a third series set in the Victorian period (another time of great cultural change with a HUGE literature) sometime during the year, but I won’t release book 1 until book 2 is nearly done. June-ish, probably. If I could persuade myself to write more diligently, I could finish the fourth Bacon book in 2016 also. There’s always a long queue of stories jumping up and down wanting to be written!

 

FU:  Thank you very much!

99 CENTS: Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Click for purchase in

USA   UK   Australia  Canada   India

INTERVIEW: Anna Castle

The Flurries Unlimited team was able to have a quick chat with mystery writer Anna Castle about her past successes, her penchant for historical mysteries and her upcoming projects.  This is what we discussed.

FU:  Most of your book takes place in Elizabethan England, investigated by Francis Bacon. Of all the different times and historical people, what inspired you to write about these in particular?

AC: I’m a learning junkie and with historical fiction you can never learn enough. I like periods of great cultural change and wanted a period with a rich vernacular literature. I started Murder by Misrule in 2010, when The Tudors was hot, but I was more inspired by Shakespeare in Love. The Elizabethan period was as light as the Henrician period was dark. I like optimistic periods (although the 1590s were tougher.)

FU: Why mysteries?

AC: The best advice is to write what you read, and that’s my favorite genre. I enjoy constructing plots; that’s the most fun part of the writing process. Also mysteries run in series and I can’t imagine abandoning my characters after only one book.

FU:  Your Lost Hat, Texas Mystery book seems a major departure from the historical genre.  Why the change? Which series do your fans seem to prefer?

AC: I actually started this series first. I’ve read possibly every humorous regional mystery series on Earth and have always enjoyed that genre. I also thought it would be easier to learn the craft by writing something fairly constrained, which is what you get with a small town and first person point of view. And it’s nice to write about a place where I can just look out the window to describe the weather.

FU:   You've written four books so far.  Which is your favourite and why?

AC: I like Death by Disputation, because I adore Christopher Marlowe. He was such an intriguing and brilliant young man and he died so young and so unnecessarily. Everyone who writes in this period ends up needing to write about Kit.

FU:  They say that every character has some of the author in him/her.  Which of your characters is most like you?  In what way?

AC: Maybe Francis Bacon? Not that I’m a genius. His voice is essentially my natural academic voice. I’d rather read a book than go to a party and I’m about as adventurous as a old dog. Certainly none of the young persons I write about is much like me -- they are far too reckless. But the truth is that characters are only like the author in the sense that they derive from the author’s experiences, which includes hearsay and everything they’ve read, exaggerated as far as they can stretch it. Don’t tell your secrets to a novelist!

FU:  So what is on the horizon?  What are your new projects? When is your next new release?

AC: I’m having fun in the new year writing short stories, but I’m not sure yet how those will be disseminated. The next book release will be Flash Memory, number 2 in the Lost Hat, Texas series, coming out in April. I’m planning to launch a third series set in the Victorian period (another time of great cultural change with a HUGE literature) sometime during the year, but I won’t release book 1 until book 2 is nearly done. June-ish, probably. If I could persuade myself to write more diligently, I could finish the fourth Bacon book in 2016 also. There’s always a long queue of stories jumping up and down wanting to be written!

 

FU:  Thank you very much!

99 CENTS: Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Click for purchase in

USA   UK   Australia  Canada   India

INTERVIEW: Anna Castle

The Flurries Unlimited team was able to have a quick chat with mystery writer Anna Castle about her past successes, her penchant for historical mysteries and her upcoming projects.  This is what we discussed.

FU:  Most of your book takes place in Elizabethan England, investigated by Francis Bacon. Of all the different times and historical people, what inspired you to write about these in particular?

AC: I’m a learning junkie and with historical fiction you can never learn enough. I like periods of great cultural change and wanted a period with a rich vernacular literature. I started Murder by Misrule in 2010, when The Tudors was hot, but I was more inspired by Shakespeare in Love. The Elizabethan period was as light as the Henrician period was dark. I like optimistic periods (although the 1590s were tougher.)

FU: Why mysteries?

AC: The best advice is to write what you read, and that’s my favorite genre. I enjoy constructing plots; that’s the most fun part of the writing process. Also mysteries run in series and I can’t imagine abandoning my characters after only one book.

FU:  Your Lost Hat, Texas Mystery book seems a major departure from the historical genre.  Why the change? Which series do your fans seem to prefer?

AC: I actually started this series first. I’ve read possibly every humorous regional mystery series on Earth and have always enjoyed that genre. I also thought it would be easier to learn the craft by writing something fairly constrained, which is what you get with a small town and first person point of view. And it’s nice to write about a place where I can just look out the window to describe the weather.

FU:   You've written four books so far.  Which is your favourite and why?

AC: I like Death by Disputation, because I adore Christopher Marlowe. He was such an intriguing and brilliant young man and he died so young and so unnecessarily. Everyone who writes in this period ends up needing to write about Kit.

FU:  They say that every character has some of the author in him/her.  Which of your characters is most like you?  In what way?

AC: Maybe Francis Bacon? Not that I’m a genius. His voice is essentially my natural academic voice. I’d rather read a book than go to a party and I’m about as adventurous as a old dog. Certainly none of the young persons I write about is much like me -- they are far too reckless. But the truth is that characters are only like the author in the sense that they derive from the author’s experiences, which includes hearsay and everything they’ve read, exaggerated as far as they can stretch it. Don’t tell your secrets to a novelist!

FU:  So what is on the horizon?  What are your new projects? When is your next new release?

AC: I’m having fun in the new year writing short stories, but I’m not sure yet how those will be disseminated. The next book release will be Flash Memory, number 2 in the Lost Hat, Texas series, coming out in April. I’m planning to launch a third series set in the Victorian period (another time of great cultural change with a HUGE literature) sometime during the year, but I won’t release book 1 until book 2 is nearly done. June-ish, probably. If I could persuade myself to write more diligently, I could finish the fourth Bacon book in 2016 also. There’s always a long queue of stories jumping up and down wanting to be written!

FU:  Thank you very much!

99 CENTS: Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Click for purchase in

USA   UK   Australia  Canada   India

INTERVIEW: Anna Castle

The Flurries Unlimited team was able to have a quick chat with mystery writer Anna Castle about her past successes, her penchant for historical mysteries and her upcoming projects.  This is what we discussed.

FU:  Most of your book takes place in Elizabethan England, investigated by Francis Bacon. Of all the different times and historical people, what inspired you to write about these in particular?

AC: I’m a learning junkie and with historical fiction you can never learn enough. I like periods of great cultural change and wanted a period with a rich vernacular literature. I started Murder by Misrule in 2010, when The Tudors was hot, but I was more inspired by Shakespeare in Love. The Elizabethan period was as light as the Henrician period was dark. I like optimistic periods (although the 1590s were tougher.)

FU: Why mysteries?

AC: The best advice is to write what you read, and that’s my favorite genre. I enjoy constructing plots; that’s the most fun part of the writing process. Also mysteries run in series and I can’t imagine abandoning my characters after only one book.

FU:  Your Lost Hat, Texas Mystery book seems a major departure from the historical genre.  Why the change? Which series do your fans seem to prefer?

AC: I actually started this series first. I’ve read possibly every humorous regional mystery series on Earth and have always enjoyed that genre. I also thought it would be easier to learn the craft by writing something fairly constrained, which is what you get with a small town and first person point of view. And it’s nice to write about a place where I can just look out the window to describe the weather.

FU:   You've written four books so far.  Which is your favourite and why?

AC: I like Death by Disputation, because I adore Christopher Marlowe. He was such an intriguing and brilliant young man and he died so young and so unnecessarily. Everyone who writes in this period ends up needing to write about Kit.

FU:  They say that every character has some of the author in him/her.  Which of your characters is most like you?  In what way?

AC: Maybe Francis Bacon? Not that I’m a genius. His voice is essentially my natural academic voice. I’d rather read a book than go to a party and I’m about as adventurous as a old dog. Certainly none of the young persons I write about is much like me -- they are far too reckless. But the truth is that characters are only like the author in the sense that they derive from the author’s experiences, which includes hearsay and everything they’ve read, exaggerated as far as they can stretch it. Don’t tell your secrets to a novelist!

FU:  So what is on the horizon?  What are your new projects? When is your next new release?

AC: I’m having fun in the new year writing short stories, but I’m not sure yet how those will be disseminated. The next book release will be Flash Memory, number 2 in the Lost Hat, Texas series, coming out in April. I’m planning to launch a third series set in the Victorian period (another time of great cultural change with a HUGE literature) sometime during the year, but I won’t release book 1 until book 2 is nearly done. June-ish, probably. If I could persuade myself to write more diligently, I could finish the fourth Bacon book in 2016 also. There’s always a long queue of stories jumping up and down wanting to be written!

FU:  Thank you very much!

99 CENTS: Murder by Misrule by Anna Castle

Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

Click for purchase in

USA   UK   Australia  Canada   India

INTERVIEW: Anna Castle

The Flurries Unlimited team was able to have a quick chat with mystery writer Anna Castle about her past successes, her penchant for historical mysteries and her upcoming projects.  This is what we discussed.

FU:  Most of your book takes place in Elizabethan England, investigated by Francis Bacon. Of all the different times and historical people, what inspired you to write about these in particular?

AC: I’m a learning junkie and with historical fiction you can never learn enough. I like periods of great cultural change and wanted a period with a rich vernacular literature. I started Murder by Misrule in 2010, when The Tudors was hot, but I was more inspired by Shakespeare in Love. The Elizabethan period was as light as the Henrician period was dark. I like optimistic periods (although the 1590s were tougher.)

FU: Why mysteries?

AC: The best advice is to write what you read, and that’s my favorite genre. I enjoy constructing plots; that’s the most fun part of the writing process. Also mysteries run in series and I can’t imagine abandoning my characters after only one book.

FU:  Your Lost Hat, Texas Mystery book seems a major departure from the historical genre.  Why the change? Which series do your fans seem to prefer?

AC: I actually started this series first. I’ve read possibly every humorous regional mystery series on Earth and have always enjoyed that genre. I also thought it would be easier to learn the craft by writing something fairly constrained, which is what you get with a small town and first person point of view. And it’s nice to write about a place where I can just look out the window to describe the weather.

FU:   You've written four books so far.  Which is your favourite and why?

AC: I like Death by Disputation, because I adore Christopher Marlowe. He was such an intriguing and brilliant young man and he died so young and so unnecessarily. Everyone who writes in this period ends up needing to write about Kit.

FU:  They say that every character has some of the author in him/her.  Which of your characters is most like you?  In what way?

AC: Maybe Francis Bacon? Not that I’m a genius. His voice is essentially my natural academic voice. I’d rather read a book than go to a party and I’m about as adventurous as a old dog. Certainly none of the young persons I write about is much like me -- they are far too reckless. But the truth is that characters are only like the author in the sense that they derive from the author’s experiences, which includes hearsay and everything they’ve read, exaggerated as far as they can stretch it. Don’t tell your secrets to a novelist!

FU:  So what is on the horizon?  What are your new projects? When is your next new release?

AC: I’m having fun in the new year writing short stories, but I’m not sure yet how those will be disseminated. The next book release will be Flash Memory, number 2 in the Lost Hat, Texas series, coming out in April. I’m planning to launch a third series set in the Victorian period (another time of great cultural change with a HUGE literature) sometime during the year, but I won’t release book 1 until book 2 is nearly done. June-ish, probably. If I could persuade myself to write more diligently, I could finish the fourth Bacon book in 2016 also. There’s always a long queue of stories jumping up and down wanting to be written!

FU:  Thank you very much!

BOOK REVIEW: The Widow's Guild by Anna Castle

Sir Francis Bacon sits on a commission charged with uprooting seditious Catholics from Elizabethan England. Meanwhile, one of Bacon's young assistants, Tom Clarady, is implicated in the murder of elderly nobleman and recusant Catholic, Viscount Surdeval, due to Tom's entanglement with the Viscount's young new bride turned widow, Lady Alice (Trumpet). Soon it becomes clear that Viscount Surdeval is not the only prominent recusant to have recently fallen to murder shortly after being questioned by the commission. So begins Bacon's quest to solve the killings, notably at the behest of his overbearing mother and aunt, key members of The Widow's Guild, an organization intent on its own interests.

The Widow's Guild has a strong, intricate plot (with interesting subplots) buttressed by solid historical research. The characters are well-developed and engaging. The dialogue is natural and easy to follow despite holding to Elizabethan conventions. At times there is a slightly frustrating tendency to gloss over in description, dialogue and events that the reader should be shown. For example, in their initial conference with Bacon, Tom and Trumpet are described as contradicting each other to the point that Bacon tunes them out. It would have provided greater depth to the plot and these characters to see them actually start hanging themselves by their own words rather than just be told that they had.

Likewise, there is a slight tendency to provide extensive detail on items that are incidental to the plot (e.g. backstory, settings, clothing, personal preferences). For example, Bacon's carriage ride conversation with the Earl of Essex provides important information that almost gets lost in the additional details provided. Such overt demonstration of historical research might work better in the background, being brought out when directly related to the conversation or action.

That said, there are a delightful number of red herrings to keep the reader guessing and the end reveal still managed to shock. It was an enjoyable and entertaining read. I am curious as to what happens to the characters next.

4 out of 5 stars

BARGAIN BOOK: The Widows Guild by Anna Castle

We are happy to announce as a BARGAIN BOOK: The Widows Guild: A Francis Bacon Mystery (The Francis Bacon Mystery Series Book 3) by Anna Castle (Click for UK , Australia, Canada or India purchase).  Why not grab a copy today?

BOOK DESCRIPTION
In the summer of 1588, Europe waits with bated breath for King Philip of Spain to launch his mighty armada against England. Everyone except Lady Alice Trumpington, whose father wants her wed to the highest bidder. She doesn't want to be a wife, she wants to be widow; a rich one, and the sooner, the better. So she marries an elderly viscount, gives him a sleeping draught, and spends her wedding night with Thomas Clarady, her best friend and Francis Bacon's assistant. The next morning, they find the viscount murdered in his bed and they're both locked into the Tower.

Lady Alice appeals to the Andromache Society, the widows’ guild led by Francis Bacon's formidable aunt, Lady Russell. They charge Bacon with getting the new widow out of prison and identifying the real murderer. He soon learns the viscount wasn’t an isolated case. Someone is murdering Catholics in London and taking advantage of armada fever to mask the crimes. The killer seems to have privy information — from someone close to the Privy Council?

The investigation takes Francis from the mansions along the Strand to the rack room under the Tower. Pulled and pecked by a coven of demanding widows, Francis struggles to maintain his reason and his courage to see through the fog of war and catch the killer.

NEW RELEASE : The Widows Guild by Anna Castle

We are happy to announce as a NEW RELEASE and BARGAIN BOOK: The Widows Guild: A Francis Bacon Mystery (The Francis Bacon Mystery Series Book 3) by Anna Castle (Click for UK , Australia, Canada or India purchase).  Why not grab a copy today?

BOOK DESCRIPTION
In the summer of 1588, Europe waits with bated breath for King Philip of Spain to launch his mighty armada against England. Everyone except Lady Alice Trumpington, whose father wants her wed to the highest bidder. She doesn't want to be a wife, she wants to be widow; a rich one, and the sooner, the better. So she marries an elderly viscount, gives him a sleeping draught, and spends her wedding night with Thomas Clarady, her best friend and Francis Bacon's assistant. The next morning, they find the viscount murdered in his bed and they're both locked into the Tower.

Lady Alice appeals to the Andromache Society, the widows’ guild led by Francis Bacon's formidable aunt, Lady Russell. They charge Bacon with getting the new widow out of prison and identifying the real murderer. He soon learns the viscount wasn’t an isolated case. Someone is murdering Catholics in London and taking advantage of armada fever to mask the crimes. The killer seems to have privy information — from someone close to the Privy Council?

The investigation takes Francis from the mansions along the Strand to the rack room under the Tower. Pulled and pecked by a coven of demanding widows, Francis struggles to maintain his reason and his courage to see through the fog of war and catch the killer.