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The Counterfeit Crank

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Nicholas Bracewell befriends a young beggar who is trying to eke out a living as a counterfeit crank, pretending to have spectacular epileptic fits in order to get money from gullible bystanders. When the beggar is murdered inside Bridewell, Nicholas has to pose as a beggar himself in order to get inside the notorious institution so that he can solve the crime. Counterfeiting of all kinds is exposed.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 19, 2004
      Right from the start of British author Marston's clever historical, the 14th entry in his Nicholas Bracewell series (after 2003's The Vagabond Clown
      ), troubles beset the Westfield Players. Bracewell's sleuthing skills are much needed after playwright Edmund Hoode collapses from "falling sickness," stage carpenter Nathan Curtis and tireman Hugh Wegges lose their purses to a gambler, and gatherer Lucas Peebles is robbed of all the ticket money. The hapless group then suffers the ultimate indignity when their costumes are stolen and they're forced to perform in borrowed outfits "visibly the wrong size, shape, and color." Amid all this distress, a tender romantic interlude between "counterfeit crank" Hywel Rees, an actor of a different sort, and his beloved Dorothea turns tragic when the two are imprisoned in Bridewell Palace, once a royal residence, now a house of ill repute. These intrigues move rapidly with scene changes and subplots reminiscent of an Elizabethan stage play, and lead to a breathtaking finale when Nicholas and company use their stock-in-trade disguises to unmask a fraudulent operation close to home. A handy dramatis personae helps us keep all the names straight in this complex but beguiling tale. (Aug. 11)

      FYI:
      Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles.

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  • English

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