The Fatal Bellman: The second novel by the multi BAFTA, RTS and Emmy award-winning writer of Outnumbered

'A delicious and intelligent tour de force. I loved it. Truly engaging characters with whom to travel into the dark alleys, playhouses and rogue inhabited streets of the edgy London of James I. Unputdownable' Carol McGrath

'Riotous, subversive and completely bloody brilliant' Chris Lloyd

The hilarious follow-up to Murder Most Foul by the multi BAFTA, RTS and Emmy award-winning writer of Outnumbered and Drop the Dead Donkey.

Something wicked this way comes...

It's 1605 and Will Shakespeare is now a wealthy writer and a respected producer. But when Ann Marlowe arrives at The Globe unexpectedly, fleeing from Canterbury, the pair find themselves once again enmeshed in a bloody conspiracy involving King James, Lord Cecil and various murderous thugs.

Caught up in a world where no one can be trusted and where superstition and witchcraft have taken over people's minds, Will and Ann realise that the only way they will survive is to solve a series of murders and find out who is responsible. The future of England is at stake – and only they can save it.

The Fatal Bellman is Shakespeare at his wittiest – and bloodiest – best.

'Guy Jenkin is a master at combining a dark story with laugh-out-loud humour' G J Williams

'A riotous caper around Jacobean London’s underbelly... filthy, fiery, frenzied and very funny' Beth Morrey

• Publication date: 24 September 2026
• Page count: 240
• Dimensions: Height 198 mm; Width 129 mm
• Publisher: Legend Press Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN-13: 9781918291865