AN ASSASSIN STALKS THE STREETS OF LONDON...

Tensions in Elizabeth I's government are at breaking point. 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. When a plot to assassinate Francis Drake is uncovered, John Shakespeare, Walsingham's chief intelligencer, is ordered to protect him. If England's 'sea dragon' dies, the country will be open to invasion.

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

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.