A few days before Christmas 1595 Joshua Peace, Searcher of the Dead is given a body. He turns to John Shakespeare to help identify and locate the murderer. Shakespeare's investigation leads to the Earl of Oxford, one time favourite of the Queen.
An enjoyable short mystery story ( )

This is a Christmas novella in the author's series of Elizabethan whodunnits featuring the intelligencer John Shakespeare, fictional brother of the playwright. While obviously less intricate than the full blown novels, the plot works really well in this context. The body of a black man is discovered frozen in the snow just before Christmas; he was a member of the household of the Earl of Oxford. Needless to say, all is not as it seems, and the usual connections to spying and treachery are there to be uncovered by John Shakespeare and his trusty assistant Boltfoot Cooper. There is also an interesting array of colourful characters made believable despite the short format. A real gem and I actually enjoyed this more than many of the full length novels. ( )

A unidentified naked man has been found dead in the snow. The sheriff seems to want to rush the investigation. Joshua Peace, examiner of the dead, goes to John Shakespeare to ensure an investigation is done.

This episode seems a little more formal than previous episodes, but it still contains the same engaging and witty characters as they continue with their lives and murder investigations.

Historical accuracy appears present throughout the narrative, along with rich descriptions of places and people.

Overall, a fun read. ( )

The Man in the Snow, A John Shakespeare Novella by Rory Clements is an e-book for today.
Actually, it's merely set during Christmas. It begins with John writing to his parents that he is unable to get home for the holiday because he is busy with work as Chief Intelligencer for Sir Robert Cecil. He is Will Shakespeare's older brother. Stratford-upon-Avon is 100 miles away.

An old friend, Joshua Peace, arrives at John's comfortable home and they sit down with brandy to warm him. He has come because as Searcher of the Dead, he has the corpse of a black man who was shot in the back. The justice and the sheriff won't do anything about it, so he has come to ask John to find out who killed him and bring the murderer to justice.

Travel is difficult because of heavy snow. When the two men near London, they see gangs of men shoveling snow from the roads. All Peace knows is that the body was found just outside the city frozen solid. Can't determine time of death but assumes it was within the past three weeks. To his surprise, John recognizes the man. He is Giovanni Jesu from Venice who works for the Earl of Oxford. He remembered him from years ago because Jesu was such a perfection of human form. His skin was a glowing shade of light brown.

Solving the mystery involves a stay in the household of the Earl who is a drunkard, and his wife, a lovely and admirable lady. He finds that Jesu has fathered a child with one of the maidservants in the house. There are many suspects and no one talking due to fear or loyalty. John's servant, Boltfoot Cooper (who has a clubfoot) returns to London to further the investigation there.

The characters in this story set in the late 1500s are a motley lot. Figuring out who to trust is half the case, and then ferreting out motives is even more difficult. It has the air of genuine research behind the story. I learned quite a bit about the life in those days. It all held my interest, and I loved John Shakespeare.

Highly recommended quick read
Source: publisher - Witness/Impulse Imprint, HarperCollins ( )