Shakespeare Is Missing is a pair of tales with crossing arcs.The first begins in 1605. A man and woman carry on an illicit tryst in theCrown Inn, Oxford, England. The lovers are married; not, of course, to each other.A child is born of their clandestine affair. The man, whose reputation as a playwrightand poet is growing throughout his country, is William Shakespeare. The womanis Jane Davenant, the wife of the inns proprietor, who sleeps peacefully one fl oorbelow. Jane will later be known as The Dark Lady of Shakespearean legend.The second tale, set in 2010, moves eastward across America then on toEngland. Its antagonist seeks vengeance against the Bard, foreshadowed by poems,which pathetically mimic Shakespeares style. The vengeance begins with theftsand vandalism of the Bards works in San Francisco and Las Vegas, then escalatesfrom an assault in Milwaukee to explosive mayhem and murder at WashingtonDCs venerated Folger Shakespeare Library.To solve these crimes, Ovid Kent, a former DEA operative, now a rare bookdealer, is hired by a billionaire English fi nancier and owner of the worlds largestprivate collection of Shakespeareana, an expected target of the mayhem. Ovid isaided throughout by the frequently evanescing Will Shakespeare himself.The storylines have their dramatic nexus in Oxford, in the very room of thevery inn where the fi rst tale began. There, the stunning climax plays itself out in abreath-holding scene between Ovid, Will Shakespeare and the antagonist