Following the success of her Medieval Ladies Series, we are delighted to have signed a new Thomas Middleton series by Coirle Mooney.
In Coirle’s words:
“While studying for my PhD, I became intrigued by Thomas Middleton. Who was this lesser known, younger, more dashing contemporary of Shakespeare who preferred to be called ‘Plain Tom’?
“In the first book of my new series, schoolboy Tom dreams of becoming a great poet like Kit Marlowe or William Shakespeare and draws inspiration from the daily crime pamphlets sold around St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as the preachers’ passionate sermons on vice and evil-doers. His essay wins the grand prize of a season ticket to the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, but his plan (and childhood) is derailed when his charismatic stepfather attempts to poison his beloved mother, forcing him to give up the precious prize to help pay for the lawsuit that ensues. Alongside his poetic aspiration, Tom develops a lifelong distrust of appearances and an obsession with rooting out poisoners.
“The series follows Tom down the dark alleyways of Southwarke’s lawless baiting dens, taverns, brothels, the Rose and the (newly built) rival Globe theatre, where he meets like-minded playwrights and actors who move easily between all social ranks in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean London. Tom and his fellow artisan dissidents are well placed to root out corruption in the shape of poisoners, like his stepfather, who destroy innocent lives in the pursuit of wealth, status and power.
“All three books reimagine poisonings of the time, with Tom’s character central to discovering the murderers. Book three culminates in the Overbury murder scandal, where members of the Jacobean court and their citizen accomplices were famously put on trial for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury.
“I am thrilled to be working with the marvellous team at Sapere once more and grateful to have a platform worthy of plain Tom!”
