Customer Reviews
Highly Entertaining with a very clever plot - By: , 07 May 1999 
Gordon's clever working of the characters from the Twelft Night produces a very entertaining mystery. Students who study Shakespear as part of their courses will enjoy this book.
Brilliant comic mystery in the best tradition of Shakespeare - By: , 09 Feb 1999 A brilliant comic murder mystery -- think of Raymond Chandler writing the Pink Panther, or Shakespeare directing "Murder By Death." The Byzantine plot is set against a fascinating 11th Century backdrop. You will learn more about juggling, crossbows, guilds & alchemy than you ever learnedin school. It took 400 years to get the sequel to Twelfth Night. With luck, the next volume -- "Fourteenth Night"? "As You Like It Again"? -- won't take so long.
The Bard would stop for this mystery from his Twelfth Night - By: , 30 Jan 1999 In December 1200, The Fool's Guild learns that Duke Orsino of Illyria unexpectedly died. The jesters & clowns who make up the behind the scenes, politically influential guild suspects foul play. Fifteen years earlier, one of the Guild's members, Feste, influenced events that led to Orsino loving Viola & halting a Saladin plot. The loser of that affair, Malvolio, vowed vengeance & the Guild wonders if he finally succeeded.
The Guild leadership agrees to send Feste back to Illyria to learn the truth and, if necessary, stop any plot led by one of their greatest enemies, Malvolio. Feste disguises himself as a merchant. Another Guild member accompanies him as a jester to throw the spotlight away from Feste. Soon Feste realizes several unnerving facts. People age rapidlyin a decade & a half, thereby changing their appearance. He cannot find his foe, who searches for him to complete his act of vengeance while plotting to complete his failed earlier mission.
Either Alan Gordon wears white jackets with special buckles or he is a certifiable genius. No one except perhaps Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) would rewrite even an iota of the Bard, but Mr. Gordon does so fabulously. Taking up fifteen years after Twelfth Night ended, the writer provides a riveting historical mystery. The story line starts a bit slow like a roller coaster creaking up the first ramp,in this case to establish roles & motivations. However, once cleared, like the rest of the roller coaster ride, the novel is non-stop. The insight into the machinations of the Fool's Guild & the overall era brings to life Medieval Englandin a manner that would make Shakespeare proud because the Elizabethan influence is not a factor.
Harriet Klausner
