Now and Then Stab

Listed in the Literature category on Art In Fiction, Now and Then Stab (2021) is the 7th installment in Anna Castle’s Francis Bacon Mystery series. Spring, 1593: A ballad is posted in the heart of London inciting violence. The Lord Mayor offers one hundred crowns for the name of the author. Thomas Clarady wants that money and drags Francis Bacon into the game. At first, it’s just a riddle to be solved. Tom talks to poets, while Francis analyzes the verse. Things take a dangerous turn when the authorities focus on two popular playmakers. One is cruelly tortured. Another is killed in dubious circumstances. Did he start a brawl that ended in tragedy? Or was he murdered by his dinner companions? The official story seems plausible, at first. But Tom doesn’t buy it. Distraught at the death of his friend, he refuses stop digging, uncovering a plot he should have left buried. Francis Bacon and his team hazard their lives and reputations to determine the truth. Whether justice can ever be obtained is another matter. Anna Castle ( 1956-2022) was serious about series. She wrote the Francis Bacon Mystery series and also the Lost Hat, Texas Mystery series. She earned a series of degrees -- BA in the Classics, MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Linguistics -- and had a corresponding series of careers -- waitressing, software engineering, grammar-writing, assistant professor, and archivist. How all that added up to writing historical fiction and madcap cozies is a mystery in itself, but somehow it revolved around her lifelong love of stories and learning. She resided in Austin, Texas, but mentally counted herself a queen of infinite space. Buy Now from Amazon Buy Now from Bookshop Find other novels by Anna Castle on Art In Fiction.