Review: The Marlowe Conspiracy

The Marlowe Conspiracy by M. G. Scarsbrook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



There were parts of this book I loved (the use of well researched details of theatre life and the Star Chamber courts), parts that made me cringe (yes, it's fiction, but fiction based on something as well documented as the time line of Christopher Marlowe's short life shouldn't play fast and loose with that time line). Parts of the book seemed forced (Shakespear's created involvement in the last day's of Marlowe's life came from being an extreme fanboy? ), while others made perfect sense (a man capable of writing what Marlowe wrote should have been able to figure out that he wasn't being invited for a friendly drink in Depshire. There are plot developments that are convenient at one moment and forgotten when they wouldn't be (why would a clever man like Kit risk sneaking into Scadbury again when a night watchman had caused so much trouble the first time?). But in the end, my over all feeling was that this was a fun, far better than average piece of real person fan fiction, and that averaged out to three stars.



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