Book description
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 - its operative William Ivory, known as the 'Queen's Eye', and
its inventor, the maverick magician Dr Dee. With a second Armada
threatened, intelligencer John Shakespeare is sent north to escort Dr
Dee to safety. But his mission is far from straightforward. Dee's
host, the Earl of Derby, cousin to Elizabeth, is dying in agony,
apparently poisoned. Who wants him dead and why? What lies behind the
lynching of the recusant priest Father Matthew Lamb? And what exactly
is the connection between these events and the mysterious and
beautiful Lady Eliska? 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? Moving from the Catholic heartlands of Lancashire to a
vagabond camp in the heart of England, and from the deck of Admiral
Frobisher's flagship off the Brittany coast to the secret meetings of
Elizabeth's closest associates, Traitor is award-winning
writer Rory Clements' most intriguing and compelling novel to date.
'This is a historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine . . .
atmospheric - the evocation of the filth and debauchery of London is
quite exceptional - it demonstrates the compelling eye for detail and
character that Bernard Cornwall so memorably brought to Rifleman Sharpe.
I could not tear myself away, it is that good' Author Rory Clements
has had a long and successful newspaper career including being Features
Editor and Associate Editor of
Today
, Editor of the
Daily Mail
`s Good Health Pages and, most recently, Editor of the health section at
the
Evening Standard
He is now writing full-time in an idyllic corner of Norfolk.
