Martyr

Clements, Rory

£9.99

Tensions in Elizabeth I’s government are at breaking point. With Catholic Spain poised to invade, a plot to assassinate Francis Drake is uncovered. In a London rife with rumour, intelligencer John Shakespeare must protect him at all costs.

In stock

Publish Date: 21/01/2010

Description

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

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

England is close to war. Within days the axe could fall on the neck of Mary Queen of Scots, and Spain is already gathering a battle fleet to avenge her.

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 England’s ‘sea dragon’, Francis Drake, Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. With Drake on land fitting out his ships, he is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion.

In a London rife with rumour, Shakespeare must decide which leads to follow, which to ignore. When a high-born young woman is found mutilated and murdered at an illicit printing house, it is political gunpowder – and he has no option but to investigate.

But why is Shakespeare shadowed at every turn by the brutal Richard Topcliffe, the blood-drenched priest-hunter who claims intimacy with Queen Elizabeth herself? What is Topcliffe’s interest in a housemaid, whose baby has been stolen? And where do two fugitive Jesuit priests fit into the puzzle, one happy to die for God, the other to kill for Him?

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 . . .

Additional information

Weight 310 g
Dimensions 200 × 142 × 28 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

409

Language

English

Edition

1st paperback ed

Dewey

823.92 (edition:22)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K