Our main character, Magdalen, the wardrobe mistress of the theatre, stands accused of murdering a player; just because they think poison is a woman’s weapon. As Magdalen tries to find out who really murdered the other player, asking other people makes her a very visible target to kill next. She’s also hampered by how women were treated in that day and age, and her grandmother is catholic to boot. While everyone, besides the jailer and coroner, think she’s innocent, they aren’t able or sometimes willing to do a lot about that. When everyone is doing their best to just survive, you can’t stick your next out too much.
Historical mystery is an interesting genre as a whole. It feels like it’s easier to get away with murder than it is to solve it because the tools are just so much more limited. It’s insane to see how the end comes about, especially when, she doesn’t really solve it herself.
I thought it was interesting that the second they asked around about the player they were able to discover so many of his secrets. Everyone was pretty open about what dealings they had with the man, and who he was sleeping with. It’s also acknowledged that this was an addiction on his part; one that hurt not just him, but his last remaining family. I loved that he was made such a complicated character, but I really don’t want to spoil anything!
At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge that there really isn’t a happy ending. For a poor woman on her own, in that day and age, there just couldn’t have been. Keep in mind that there is definite sexual harassment and violence in the story. I don’t think Penny Ingham added this to be sensational, but to depict what those times were like for women; despite there being a female ruler. In that sense it was really interesting to contrast the lives of Magdalen and Amelia Bassano.
I hope that the second book wraps up a lot of things that the author started in the first one. For instance, what happens to Amelia Bassano ? I mean we know what happens to her in real life, but I’d love to see her in another book. Does Christopher Mountjoy get his comeuppance? Is she able to complete the order? There are, of course, other questions that I want answered, but I’m really trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum.