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

Part of the bestselling John Shakespeare series of Tudor spy thrillers from Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award

-------------------------------------------------------

'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

-------------------------------------------------------

1592. England and Spain are at war, yet there is peril at home, too.

The death of her trusted spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham has left Queen Elizabeth vulnerable. Conspiracies multiply.

The quiet life of John Shakespeare is shattered by a summons from the deadly young statesman Robert Cecil, insisting Shakespeare re-enter government service. His mission: to find vital papers, now in the possession of the Earl of Essex.

Essex is the brightest star in the firmament, a man of ambition. He woos the Queen, thirty-three years his senior, as if she were a girl his age.

When Shakespeare infiltrates this dissolute world he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger - but that he and his family are also targets. Shakespeare must face implacable forces who believe themselves above the law: men and women who kill without compunction.

But in a world of shifting allegiances, just how far he can trust Robert Cecil, his devious new master?

-------------------------------------------------------

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'