I read Thirteenth Night by Alan Gordon.
Fifteen years after the events described in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the Fools Guild sends Feste to investigate the death of the Duke of Orsino.
The Fools Guild is a covert organization that trains its members in the foolish arts: juggling, tumbling, music, magic, repartee and rhyming extemporaneously and deploys them throughout Europe and Asia to carry out its interests. In addition to pranks and pratfalls, fools are trained in swordplay and close combat and guide the hand of history while hiding in plain sight as the most derided figure in society.
Feste (or Theopholis as he is called by Gordon) suspects Malvolio, the dunce who swore revenge on the entire cast of characters in Shakespeare's play, has killed the Duke and summoned his nemesis to Orsino. It is unclear why Malvolio would wait for the quindecennial of his embarrassing epiphany to begin his revenge but the Guild suspects foul play and sends two fools to investigate: Theopholis disguised as a German merchant and another in cap and bells to divert Malvolio's attention and lure him into the open.
Shortly after arriving, Theopholis reveals his identity to the widowed Duchess by singing a song from Twelfth Night:
Come away, come away, death
And in sad cypress let me be laid
Fly away, Fly away, breath
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
Theo cleverly uncovers a minor mystery involving the duchess but the A-ha! moment when he disovers whodunnit sails above the head of any reader unfamiliar with the French etymology of chessmen names. Like a proper detective, Theo – in Feste guise for the first time – assembles all the players in one room to point the bauble at the bad guy(s.)
Gordon preambles each chapter with a grain of wisdom from the Bible, poetry or historical document which references fools or folly and by the end of the book exhausts nearly all puns and clichés involving jesters and jests.
I have also read the sixth book in the Fools Guild Mystery series. In The Lark's Lament, Theopholis returns with his noble steed Zeus to solve a murder mystery with help from his wife and burgeoning family of fools.
Fifteen years after the events described in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the Fools Guild sends Feste to investigate the death of the Duke of Orsino.
The Fools Guild is a covert organization that trains its members in the foolish arts: juggling, tumbling, music, magic, repartee and rhyming extemporaneously and deploys them throughout Europe and Asia to carry out its interests. In addition to pranks and pratfalls, fools are trained in swordplay and close combat and guide the hand of history while hiding in plain sight as the most derided figure in society.
Feste (or Theopholis as he is called by Gordon) suspects Malvolio, the dunce who swore revenge on the entire cast of characters in Shakespeare's play, has killed the Duke and summoned his nemesis to Orsino. It is unclear why Malvolio would wait for the quindecennial of his embarrassing epiphany to begin his revenge but the Guild suspects foul play and sends two fools to investigate: Theopholis disguised as a German merchant and another in cap and bells to divert Malvolio's attention and lure him into the open.
Shortly after arriving, Theopholis reveals his identity to the widowed Duchess by singing a song from Twelfth Night:
Come away, come away, death
And in sad cypress let me be laid
Fly away, Fly away, breath
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
Theo cleverly uncovers a minor mystery involving the duchess but the A-ha! moment when he disovers whodunnit sails above the head of any reader unfamiliar with the French etymology of chessmen names. Like a proper detective, Theo – in Feste guise for the first time – assembles all the players in one room to point the bauble at the bad guy(s.)
Gordon preambles each chapter with a grain of wisdom from the Bible, poetry or historical document which references fools or folly and by the end of the book exhausts nearly all puns and clichés involving jesters and jests.
I have also read the sixth book in the Fools Guild Mystery series. In The Lark's Lament, Theopholis returns with his noble steed Zeus to solve a murder mystery with help from his wife and burgeoning family of fools.
