Series: The Jackdaw Mysteries

Elizabeth's reign is reaching its winter, and England's old adversaries are fading. But in a world on the brink of change, showing any weakness can be fatal... 1598. Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and reluctant spy for Robert Cecil, has brought his wife Bianca and their child home from exile in Padua. Welcome at court, his star is in the ascendancy....

Treason, heresy and revolt in Queen Elizabeth's England . . . The year is 1600. With a dying queen on the throne, war raging on the high seas and famine on the rise, England is on the brink of chaos. And in London's dark alleyways, a conspiracy is brewing. In the court's desperate bid to silence it, an innocent man...

A gorgeous book - rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure ... Historical fiction at its most sumptuous. - Rory Clements LONDON, 1590. Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars, Queen Elizabeth I's control over her kingdom is wavering. And a killer is at work, preying on the weak and destitute of London... Idealistic physician...