annieb123's Review of The Vavasour Macbeth

by Bart Casey

Buried Shakespearean treasure from an ancestor’s tomb brings a disillusioned BBC reporter home to solve her father’s murder and restart her life with the man who has always loved her.

When Margaret Hamilton’s father rescues Elizabethan manuscripts from a flooded tomb, he asks his daughter’s former fiancé Stephen to help decipher them, bringing the couple back together again.

At first, the documents only seem to resurrect Anne Vavasour’s remarkable true story: how she came to Queen Elizabeth’s court as a sixteen-year-old Maid of Honour; was seduced by the Earl of Oxford; delivered a babe at court in the attending maidens’ chamber; was sent to the Tower; yet later flourished for twenty years as the mistress of the wealthy widower Sir Henry Lee, Elizabeth’s champion at the joust (and rumored half-brother of the queen).

But when Margaret and Stephen uncover links between the buried papers and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ruthless art and antiquities thieves scheme to take the priceless papers at any cost.

Blending fiction with little-known facts from history and research, The Vavasour Macbeth ranges from the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts to modern-day England, revealing many mysteries of ancient handwriting, manuscripts, and playmaking along the way. Not all facts taught in school about the Elizabethan era, Shakespeare, and Macbeth are proven, and you may be surprised to learn how many questions really do remain open and unsolved.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Vavasour Macbeth is a fictionalized historical mystery by Bart Casey. Released 7th May 2019 by Post Hill, it's 368 pages and available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

I've always enjoyed historical mysteries especially written around a framework of factual history. This one is told in third person, alternating the modern timeline (1992), with Elizabethan & Jacobian historical vignettes built into the story. There is a major subplot involving the situation in Bosnia at the time which struck me oddly, but the research for all of the facets of the book (modern and medieval) were impressively well done.

There were a few stereotypes with which I was somewhat uncomfortable and the female main character, Margaret, though not unintelligent, struck me as recklessly hasty and naive.

The book is undeniably beautifully written. The author has a deft touch with dialogue and pacing. The historical parts are very well researched and believably rendered and I didn't find any anachronisms or mistakes. (I'm not a historian, just a keen amateur). If the denouement was a trifle too perfect, it was at least a happy and satisfying one. It should also be mentioned that either the author is gifted with his capacity for nuts-and-bolts writing, or the editing was superlative. I was given an early eARC for review purposes and found not one single typo or mistake. I think that might be unique in my reviewing experience thus far.

The author includes a nice list of historical notes and references which leave me itching to read further. I always love author afterwords for the glimpse they give into the author's creative process. That was a big plus for me with this book.

I enjoyed this one very much and will definitely seek out the author's further work.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Vavasour Macbeth

by Bart Casey

Reviewed by annieb123 on Jun 8, 2019

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