Shakespeare Mystery with subplot about Christopher Marlowe, black man

[Tiffany]

Shakespeare mystery with subplot about Christopher Marlowe, black man.

[Kris]

Tiffany, I moved your request to the Unsolved folder because you're looking for a specific book.

What year did you read this book?

[Tiffany]

around 1999

[Megan Doreen]

There is the Shakespeare & Smythe series by Simon Hawke. The first book was published in 2000, and I know that Christopher Marlowe is a minor character in at least one of the books. The notable thing about this series is that Shakespeare has a sidekick (the Watson to his Holmes) who is an aspiring actor.

[Nóinín]

Then, there's another Shakespeare series with William's brother as PI: Prince by Rory Clements is about the murder of Christopher Marlowe and has got a character called "Black Luce" - who was, of course, a woman, but maybe there was a black man as well? Sadly, I haven't read the book (yet).

[Kris]

A guess - Black Swan by Farrukh Dhondy?

"...a mystery going back to Elizabethan England involving Shakespeare, Marlowe, and an extraordinary black slave." and "Aspiring actress Rose, who lives with her mother in a poor London neighborhood, has recently graduated from a prestigious secondary school which she attended on scholarship. When her mother falls ill, Rose takes over her job as cook and housekeeper for eccentric old Mr. Bernier, who lives in Salman Rushdie-like isolation. Mr. Bernier has acquired an Elizabethan manuscript, which he believes to be the diary of one Simon Forman, "a scientist and a magician and necromancer and all sorts of other things," including friend to the playwright Christopher Marlowe and his lover, the black man known as Lazarus."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Tiffany, was your book "Black Swan" or are you still looking?

[Tiffany]

By Nassim Nicholas Taleb?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No, by Farrukh Dhondy - the book Kris suggested in post 6.

[Tiffany]

Oh sorry, I didn't see Kris's post. I will check the book out and see if it is a match.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Tiffany, did you find the book?