The Traitor's Mark
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Each novel in this thrilling series of historical mysteries is based on a real unsolved Tudor crime. This second instalment reunites readers with its star, London goldsmith Thomas Treviot.
The Real Crime
Hans Holbein, King Henry VIII's portrait painter, died in the autumn of 1543. A century later a chronicler reported that the artist had succumbed to plague, yet there is no contemporary evidence to support this. Suspicions have been raised over the centuries, but the mystery of what actually happened remains unsolved to this day.
Our Story
Young London goldsmith Thomas Treviot is awaiting a design for a very important jewellery commission from Hans Holbein. When the design fails to turn up, Thomas sends a servant to track Holbein down, only to discover that the painter has disappeared. In his hunt for Holbein and the lost design, Thomas is led into a morass of dangerous political intrigue, Spanish spies and courtiers that is more treacherous than he could ever have anticipated...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The unsolved disappearance of royal painter Hans Holbein in 1543 drives British author Wilson's gripping Tudor historical, his first novel to be published in the U.S. When goldsmith Thomas Treviot, who's awaiting some tableware designs from Holbein, sends a servant, Bart Miller, to look for the German artist at his London residence, Bart gets into a brawl and ends up accused of the murder of Holbein's apprentice. Convinced that remaining in custody is tantamount to a death sentence, Bart flees captivity. Meanwhile, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is under attack from rivals who seek to supplant his influence with Henry VIII. The archbishop reveals to Treviot that Holbein was working covertly for himself and Thomas Cromwell, the king's trusted adviser, to identify the conspirators. This perilous assignment could be related to the artist's vanishing. Wilson (Charlemagne) keeps the twists coming as he brings the past to vivid life. Fans of C.J. Sansom and Rory Clements will be pleased.
