From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes Traitor, the fourth in his acclaimed bestselling John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series. 'Does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times
From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes TRAITOR, the fourth in his acclaimed John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series. 'Does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times The Elizabethan navy has a secret weapon: an optical instrument so powerful it gives England unassailable superiority at sea. Spain will stop at nothing to steal it and seize the two men who understand its secrets - William Ivory, the 'Queen's Eye', and the magician Dr Dee. With a second Armada threatened, intelligencer John Shakespeare is sent north to escort Dr Dee to safety. But he finds Dee's host, the Earl of Derby, dying in agony, apparently poisoned. Who wants him dead and why? What lies behind the lynching of a recusant priest, and how is the mysterious and beautiful Lady Eliska involved? While Shakespeare attempts to untangle a plot that points to treachery at the very highest reaches of government, he also faces serious accusations far closer to home. With so much at stake, must he choose between family and his duty to Queen and country?
'Clements can be seen doing for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's ... What's impressive in the latest is how much of Tudor society it crams in, from the court and Derby's estate to outlaws and the soldiers in its concluding battle scene' Sunday Times
'There's plenty of thrills ... the multiple plot elements are well-handled ... there's much that's enjoyable and Clements' orchestration of the narrative is skillful' www.displacementactivity.co.uk
'The best yet in Rory Clements magnificent series about John Shakespeare... As always, the historical detail is fascinating and sometimes delightfully obscure ... another sumptuous feast that will leav eyou sated - but craving for the next helping!' Crimesquad
'I found this the best book in the series' Historical Novels Review
Author
About Rory Clements
Rory Clements is the bestselling author of the John Shakespeare series of Tudor spy thrillers. His six acclaimed novels, Martyr, Revenger, Prince, Traitor, The Heretics and The Queen's Man, follow Elizabeth's Intelligencer, John Shakespeare, brother to the playwright William, through the dark underworld of Tudor England as he unmasks the traitors and conspirators who plot against the Queen. The seventh John Shakespeare novel, Holy Spy, is due to be published in February 2015. Rory Clements won the Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award in 2010 for Revenger, and has been shortlisted for CWA Awards for Martyr, Prince and The Heretics. A TV series is currently in development.
