Lord Strange was Ferdinando Stanley, who became the Earl of Derby in September of 1593. He did not have a very long tenure. He died in April of 1594, and rather colorfully-it was rumored that he had been slain by witchcraft. Whether this was possible or not is a matter for the reader’s own beliefs; suffice it to say that this left his acting company in need of a new patron. They found one in Lord Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain, and it was under the patronage and name of the Lord Chamberlain that this company became, as Anthony Burgess called them, “the greatest body of actors of all time,” with a resident poet (or playwright, as we would say today) who was destined to become the most famous writer in history.

Simon Hawke

Greensboro, N.C.

SIMON HAWKE has been the author of two successful SF/F series (Time Wars and The Wizard of 4th Street), a New York Times bestselling Star Trek novel, and several books for TSR in the “Dark Sun” and “Birthright” settings. Much Ado About Murder is his third Shakespeare-and-Smythe mystery. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.