Much Ado About Murder [Hardcover]

For anyone who has read any of the other historical mystery anthologies, this latest will seem weak in comparison. I'm trying to recall at least one story that stood out from the rest...can't do it!

Much Ado About Murder is a collection of seventeen mystery stories stiched together by the common thread of Shakespeare's plays. All were written especially for this anthology edited by Anne Perry. Some put new twists on characters or plots lifted from the plays while others are about the actors performing the plays or about the Bard himself.

In the former category, Marcia Talley tells a humorous tale starring the three witches from Macbeth. In the title story, Kathy Lynn Emerson transports Beatrice and Benedict from Padua to Bloody Mary's England for an adventure. Lillian Stewart Carl has Twlth Night's Duke Orsini send Viola/Cesario to Olivia's castle as a spy rather than an intermediary. Posing as a kitchen maid, she solves the poisoning of Olivia's brother. The Tempest, Henry V and VI, Hamlet, and Anthony and Cleopatra serve as launch pads for other writers' imaginings.

In the latter category, my favorite is P C Doherty's The Sperpent's Tooth which offers an interesting answer to the puzzle of Shakespeare's death and his epitaph. Also enjoyable is Peter Tremayne's Elizabethan sleuth, Master Hardy Drew, solving the murder of an actor in the first production of Henry V. Perry herself contributes a mystery set in a Victorian production of Othello.

The only story that seems out of place is Richard's Children by Brendan DuBois. It's connection to Richard III is tenuous and the plot belongs with the likes of Robert Ludlum.

Kudos, applause, and a standing ovation for Anne Perry and this fantastic book of short stories. There are so many truly unique and amazing stories that it's hard to choose which is best. Some involve actual Shakespearean plots, including two of the funniest: Too Many Cooks, which is a hilarious take on Macbeth from the point of view of the three Weird Sisters, and The Fall of the House of Oldenbourg, which will assure that you never think of Hamlet the same way again. Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes combines characters from The Tempest with Portia & her husband Bassanio of The Merchant of Venice as the most brilliant and beautiful Doctor of Laws solves a murder with Caliban as the accused. The beautiful Viola (disguised as Caesario disguised as Viola--shades of Victor/Victoria and Shakespeare in Love!) solves the murder of Olivia's brother in A Dish of Poison. Even two of the lesser known plays, Cymbeline and Measure for Measure feature in the stories. Some, like Anne Perry's excellent Ere I Killed Thee, deal with the players who perform these works. The bard himself appears in several of the stories, including Exit, Followed. . .and All the World's a Stage, and his death is investigated in The Serpent's Tooth. And Richard's Children can only be described as chilling. I wish that there had been stories based on Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and Midsummer's Night's Dream, but perhaps there will be a volume 2. One can only hope. This is a fantastic book for mystery lovers and for Shakespeare lovers, but heaven for those who, like myself, love them both. Buy it, read it, and recommend it to your friends!