'Does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times

The first book in the iconic John Shakespeare series, beloved by thousands of readers, from true master of historical fiction, Rory Clements.

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'Sixteenth-century London comes alive in all its tawdriness' Daily Mail

'Beautifully done . . . alive and tremendously engrossing' Daily Telegraph

'Plot and dialogue that hums with Elizabethan slang, profanity and wit' The Times

'Enjoyable, bloody and brutish' Guardian

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England, 1587. Mary, Queen of Scots is to be executed. Spain gathers their fleet in vengeance . . . War is coming.

Tensions in Elizabeth I's government are at breaking point. At the eye of the storm is John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer in the secret service of Sir Francis Walsingham.

When an intercept reveals a plot to assassinate Francis Drake, Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. The future of the nation rests on Drake's safety.

But London is nothing but one large powder keg. And murder and mutilation of a high-born young woman at a printing house, a case which Shakespeare is forced to investigate, could be the spark that sets everything ablaze. . .

From the splendour and intrigue of the royal court, to the sleek warships of Her Majesty's Navy and the teeming brothels of Southwark, Shakespeare soon learns that nothing is as it seems.

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Readers adore Martyr and the John Shakespeare series . . .

'If you love C.J. Sansom, you'll love this'

'You can feel, smell, see and hear the dangerous times of Tudor England'

'An absolutely delightful Elizabethan mystery'

'If you enjoy S.J. Parris, you need to try this'

'Rory Clements has struck gold with John Shakespeare'