Having returned to Elizabethan London after an absence of two years, Hugh Seaton is happy to resume his old job as tailor to the company of actors known as Strange's Men.
He is less content when he finds himself looking for a murderer, and hiding his former lover, playwright Christopher Marlowe, who is suspected of stabbing one of the players to death. Marlowe wants to resume their relationship, but Hugh has doubts about the wisdom of this, especially as he has already decided to find himself a wife and family rather than risk his soul with the dangerous and disreputable Marlowe.
To complicate matters, the young actor, Barnaby Winter, also has his sights set on Hugh and seems determined to win him. Hugh's inquiries, together with his efforts to keep Marlowe out of the hands of the law, cause him difficulties that threaten not only the lives of both men, but also the fragile relationship between them. Hugh also finds unexpected help from Marlowe's newest rival, a young playwright named Will, who is trying to make a name for himself in the theater world.
Seeking the truth about the murder becomes the least of Hugh's worries, as he tries to decide where his affections lie, and in the process learns more about Marlowe than he wants to know.
Review
Prove a Villain by K.C. Warwick takes place in Elizabethan England and centers on a character known as Hugh Seaton. Seaton has newly returned to the London that he loves after having spent time in Cambridge. He went to Cambridge because he needed to get away, but things didn’t work out there. The woman that he was set to marry died of the plague before their nuptials could take place. But this however must have been fate, because the truth is Hugh Seaton missed his previous lover – the socially controversial playwright Christopher Marlowe. In fact he missed him far more than he would like to admit. Actually Seaton’s marriage was to have served as a means of escaping his feelings for Marlowe but those feelings never actually went away. Seaton also missed his life in the theatre. He had worked for a topnotch and lively Elizabethan theatre company called Strange’s Men. Not as an actor but as an expert tailor. Highly intelligent, competent and talented sure enough Hugh gets his job back, but on his first day back on the job low and behold a murder has taken place. The man accused of this murder is none other than the fiery Christopher “Kit” Marlowe. He had been seen arguing with the murder victim actor Gilbert Smith – shortly before the body was discovered. Hugh Seaton though not totally convinced he wants to rekindle his romance with Marlowe, nevertheless is convinced of one thing - the innocence of his former lover. Marlowe may be a purported brawler and quick-tempered and temperamentally difficult dramatic genius, but he is not a murderer in Seaton’s eyes.
To prevent Christopher Marlowe from being taken by the police and their henchmen known as the Watch, Hugh Seaton decides to hide Marlowe and at the same time investigate the murder of unpopular actor Gilbert Smith. This is done in the hope of discovering the identity of the actual killer thereby removing suspicion from Marlowe. He will not do this alone. The one and only Will Shakespeare though previously at odds with Marlowe will come on board to help hide Marlowe and to join the investigation to prove his innocence. Also the beautiful young thespian Barnaby Winter is on hand to assist; though actually he is mainly in love with Hugh and competes with Kit Marlowe for Hugh’s affection. Marlow for his part, upon first seeing Hugh, had made it known wholeheartedly that he wished to rekindle their romance. Thus we have a highly interesting love triangle/murder mystery/historical drama.
I may be making this sound rather like a soap opera but it’s really not. The prose style is very elegant and restrained and not at all overblown. I had no problem believing I was back in Elizabethan England. In fact this book very much reminded me of the wonderful film Shakespeare in Love. It’s very time specific and yet accessible to a modern audience. The character of Will Shakespeare continues to write and act while helping to conceal Marlowe with the intent of proving him innocent. Snippets of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets - and Marlowe’s too for that matter - are utilized to great effect. There are plenty of twists and turns for murder mystery lovers and plenty of rumination on love and romance for you poets. Also much to my surprise there’s plenty of hot, hot sex for everyone. This sex is tastefully presented yet at the same time stylishly erotic. It gets the job done. All is interwoven into the books highly captivating and impeccably fluid narrative. There is humor, there is wit, there is danger, there is true love and there is suspense. Most of all there is romance and drama inspired by two of the finest playwrights of all time. I was thoroughly entranced by Prove a Villain.
