The Course of All Treasons
An Elizabethan Spy Mystery
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- 11,99 €
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- 11,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
The Elizabethan court is beset by traitors at home and abroad as spies, rogues, and would-be usurpers of the throne vie for power.
England, 1586. Tensions rise as threats to the realm abound. Traitors are plotting for Mary Queen of Scots to depose Elizabeth I and take the throne. Rumors of a Spanish invasion by sea mount daily. And the body of one of Sir Francis Walsingham's agents is found floating in the Thames as other agents face enemies armed with crossbows and vials of poison.
Nicholas Holt, a spy in Walsingham's employ, narrowly averts the same fate while setting off in pursuit of the killer--or killers. And when he surprises a suspect in the company of a Spanish agent, he believes he's close not only to solving the case but preventing an act of high treason.
But soon, the attacks begin to threaten Nick's circle of friends. As those he loves face mortal peril, Nick must unravel the tangled plot, all the while steering a careful path through the fierce rivalry between Walsingham's agents and those of the Queen's favorite, the upstart Earl of Essex. Now it's a race to the breathless conclusion as Nick desperately searches for the answers that can save the day--and a vestige of loyalty that can save his own life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1586 England, Wolfe's excellent second mystery featuring Nicholas Holt, who works for Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's legendary spymaster, delivers on the promise of 2018's A Murder by Any Name. Holt's assignment, to trail a possible Spanish agent, turns deadly when an attempt is made on his own life. When reporting to Walsingham, Holt learns that a fellow spy has already been tortured and murdered. Holt then goes undercover, pretending to join forces with the dangerously ambitious Earl of Essex, to find out who's targeting Walsingham's agents. Wolfe vividly brings London to life, from the raunchy taverns to the stages offering plays by Will Shakespeare. But the book's greatest strength is its characters, starting with the clever but flawed Holt, and including a twin brother and sister team of Jewish healers and a young Irish woman with a talent for disguise. Despite some anachronistic dialogue ("Don't be a stranger," the queen calls out to Holt at one point), readers will look forward to spending more time in their company.