The Trip to Jerusalem

The premiere of the play ‘The Merry Devils,’ written by two of the company’s actors, gives the players, as well as the audience, quite a shock. Instead of the allotted two devils appearing during a crucial scene, three enter, one looking disturbingly real. Then, in defiance, manager Lawrence Firethorne agrees to stage the play again. This time, when the devils are summoned, only one appears. The second lies dead in his costume beneath the stage. Nicholas Bracewell, mainstay of the troupe, is left to investigate.

As book holder and stage manager of Lord Westfield’s Men, Nicholas Bracewell is accustomed to solving problems. So when he discovers the naked corpse of a man while crossing the Thames by boat one night, he becomes determined to unravel its mystery. After several attacks on the company’s members, Nicholas begins to suspect a connection - could these apparently accidental events be part of some hidden design?

While England is brought low by rumours of Queen Elizabeth’s declining health, celebrated theatre company Lord Westfield’s Men suffer their own bitter blow. A vicious feud between players causes chaos; a rival company launches a new production; a mysterious beauty reduces their leading actor to a lovelorn wreck; and a brutal murder leaves the group of actors reeling. With matters so fraught, even a performing horse becomes a threat. Stage manager Nicholas Bracewell, accustomed to damage control, is the only man with the wit to keep the company afloat.

When an actor is brutally murdered in a tavern brawl, Nicholas Bracewell, manager of Lord Westfield’s Men, has two problems: First, he has to find an immediate replacement. Second, he must keep his promise to the dying man and bring his murderer to justice. As accidents, robberies, and other misfortunes dog the company, Bracewell starts to suspect a wider conspiracy. When they receive the ultimate accolade - an appearance at the court of Queen Elizabeth - Bracewell’s forebodings grow.

After a calamitous performance and the death of one of their own, Lord Westfield's Men are more than despondent. So when the mysterious Simon Chaloner follows Nicholas Bracewell home with an offer of a new play, anonymously penned, his offer seems too good to refuse. It is a story of a simple death used to conceal a greater treachery, perhaps even treason. But they could never have known how dangerous one play could be. Or how telling the tale of a murdered mathematician might put them all in jeopardy.

The plague has struck London once again but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield's Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company's bookholder, Nicholas Bracewell, and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield's secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them.

Westfield's Men are flying high after a celebrated performance of 'The Insatiate Duke' at the Queen's Head. However, victory is bittersweet, as the company will soon be faced with dissolution and the loss of their theatre - were it not for one of the company's rising stars. After acquiring a new benefactor, the company plan to build their own theatre. However, before they have the chance to find out who this guardian angel is, one of the group is found brutally murdered.

When Nicholas Bracewell finds himself once again in the parlour of his lost love, Anne Hendrik, he was not expecting her entreaties to embroil him in the murder of a beloved choir master. Between tales of cruelty, forgotten maps of London and a butcher determined to rescue his son, it is yet another mystery for the book keeper to untangle. But will his quest endanger Lord Westfield's Men?

A fire at the Queen's Head deprives Westfield's Men of their home, so they seize the opportunity to travel to Denmark with their patron, Lord Westfield, who is to marry a beautiful young Danish widow. When they reach Elsinore castle, they are given a warm welcome, but the murder of Rolfe Harling, who brokered the wedding, changes the whole atmosphere of the place. Danger threatens from all sides, including England, where one man seeks revenge and dispatches assassins after the troupe. They are soon caught up in a complex web of political intrigue and betrayal.

Faced with the austerities of a bitterly cold English winter, the theatre is deserted, and Westfield’s Men find themselves out of work. Fortuitously, the company is invited to perform at a country home in Essex - welcome news to the disgruntled players. The company decides it's the perfect opportunity to trial their new play, The Witch of Colchester. However, when the group's leading actor begins to fall mysteriously ill, the company fear witchcraft might be involved.

When unexpected disaster strikes Lord Westfield's Men during a packed performance, Nicholas Bracewell must save the day. Will a vagabond clown prophesy the end of the troupe - and perhaps the demise of Nick himself?

Theatre troupe Westfield's Men take on a new actor Francis Quilter after reaching new heights of success. But with the new member comes new trouble. Quilter's father, Gerard, is on trial for the murder of an enemy, but he denies the charge, and Nicholas Bracewell sets about proving his innocence. However, Bracewell's loyalty to Francis drives a wedge between the players. Who will clear the Quilter family name?

December 1860. Headed for the morning shift at the Swindon Locomotive Works is an army of men pouring out of terraced houses built by the GWR, a miniature town and planned community that aims to provide for its employees from cradle to grave. Unfortunately, boilersmith Frank Rodman is headed for the grave sooner than he'd expected, or he will be once his missing head is found. Colbeck, the Railway Detective, finds his investigation into Rodman's murder mired in contradictions. 

Lord Westfield's Men, the most successful troupe in London and a prime target for jealousy and resentment, are plagued by a series of practical jokes. But when one of their actors is murdered, the humour turns distinctly sour. Appalling events continue: Lawrence Firethorn, actor manager, is stalked by a mysterious lady; the sole copy of The Malevolent Comedy - the company's new play - is stolen; their leading apprentice is abducted; and there is an attempt on the life of Lord Westfield, their patron.

Nicholas Bracewell befriends a young beggar who is trying to eke out a living as a counterfeit crank, pretending to have spectacular epileptic fits in order to get money from gullible bystanders. When the beggar is murdered inside Bridewell, Nicholas has to pose as a beggar himself in order to get inside the notorious institution so that he can solve the crime. Counterfeiting of all kinds is exposed.