Five Entertaining Books for the Theatre Enthusiast This Christmas

A few weeks ago The Chicago Tribune had an article about gifts for theatre enthusiasts and I thought it might be helpful to add a few titles from my own list of entertaining mysteries with a theatrical bent. The first four feature some involvement with Shakespeare.   

1. Let’s start with an all time absolute classic. Give your friend a copy of Josephine Tey’s 1951 The Daughter of Time.  It will suck you into “Richard III” as an ill detective seeks to solve the mystery of the murder of the young Princes right from his hospital bed.
2. If your recipient likes stories of with a bit more color, adventure and romance, you might try gifting a different take on “Shakespeare In Love” with Faye Kellerman’s 1989 The Quality of Mercy.  It immerses you in the tale of a young Jewish girl out and about in Elizabethan England who meets up with none other than William S. himself.
3. For lovers of the Bard’s birthplace, another classic that might make a good gift is Martha Grimess’ 1984 The Dirty Duck.  It has Superintendent Richard Jury discovering that Stratford-Upon Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s stage is not the only place where murder is committed.  Only the truly initiated will know what the Dirty Duck refers to.    
4. Is  the target of your gift  addicted to the East Coast? He or she might like to get his Shakespeare with a New Haven twist?  Consider sending William Martin’s 2003 Harvard Yard. Yes, it is another story of an undiscovered Shakespeare play, but this manuscript is buried in the bowels of our most eminent university’s library.  It will send the reader on a sweeping historical trip all the way from John Harvard’s journey to the colonies to Boston in the 1960’s.
5. My final pick takes you away from Shakespeare and is more of an author recommendation. It will appeal to someone who loves London theatre and also relishes quirky sly English humor.  Give this person one or two of Christopher Fowler’s delightful series of mysteries,  which feature the lead detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit Arthur Bryant and John May.   Mr. Fowler knows London’s history like the back of his hand and 2003’s Full Dark House  takes you whirling back and forth from a present day murder to another one that occurred in a WWII London Theatre.   In 2011’s Memory of Blood the Unit takes on a murder in a locked room attended only by a puppet of Mr. Punch on the floor. Seventy-seven Clocks features a good deal of Gilbert and Sullivan lore along with a lot about the Savoy Theatre.  

I think all of these titles are still in print in some form or on Kindle.  Go to Ebay or Amazon and you will still have time to get them shipped to a theatre friend before the holidays are on you. Or you might want one or two for yourself.  Let me know if you want a longer list of books with theatre settings.  I’ll be happy to send it to you. 

Jim De Young   dramajim@gmail.com