Legend Press scoops director Guy Jenkin’s debut novel

Legend Press has acquired Murder Most Foul, described as a Tudor noir detective novel, by award-winning director and screenwriter Guy Jenkin.

Commissioning editor Cari Rosen acquired world rights excluding film and TV to the debut from Marc Berlin at Berlin Associates, with publication scheduled for 6th March 2025.

The synopsis reads: “In the midst of a deadly plague outbreak in 1593, William Shakespeare is implicated in the murder of his friend and rival, Christopher Marlowe. Teaming up with Marlowe’s sister and his former flame Ann, they embark on a quest to clear his name, uncovering a web of treachery and corruption that inspires Shakespeare’s future masterpieces.”

Jenkin is a multi BAFTA, RTS and Emmy award-winning writer, director and producer. His television series include “Outnumbered”, “Kate & Koji” and “Drop the Dead Donkey”, all co-written with Andy Hamilton. He also wrote and directed a number of TV films including “A Very Open Prison” and “Crossing the Floor”, and two feature films, “The Sleeping Dictionary” and, with Andy Hamilton, “What We Did on Our Holiday”.

Rosen said: “I’m so delighted to be working with Guy on his wonderfully clever and dark debut novel. Our paths first crossed when we were both at Hat Trick Productions many moons ago, and I have always been a great admirer of his work. Murder mystery meets Will Shakespeare meets (the corpse of) Christopher Marlowe in the vividly drawn setting of plague-ridden London and the result has all the brilliance and wit you would expect from the pen of Guy Jenkin.”

Jenkin said: “I had a health scare a couple of years ago and it made me think, as these things do, and I decided I really wanted to write a novel. I discovered that novels are very long, but very rewarding. I’m used to writing for the screen and it’s great to be able to speak directly to the reader with nothing in between.

“I love crime fiction and I’ve always been fascinated by Shakespeare and that extraordinary explosion of creativity packed into that short period around the end of the 16th century. I wanted to write the sort of book I’d enjoy, a page turner, but something funny and smart and the idea of Shakespeare investigating the killing of Marlowe really excited me. It let me write about conspiracy and murder and revenge and love, and you can’t get better than that.”