The Bones of Avalon

An astrologer in the royal court of Elizabeth I uncovers murder and conspiracy while searching for King Arthur’s bones in this historical thriller.

A country divided. A newly crowned, desperately vulnerable young queen. Can one man uncover the secret that will save her throne?

It is 1560, and Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year. Dr. John Dee, at thirty-two already acclaimed throughout Europe, is her astrologer and consultant in the hidden arts . . . a controversial appointment in these days of superstition and religious strife.

When dangerous questions of Elizabeth’s legitimacy arise, the mild, bookish Dee finds himself summoned before William Cecil, who tasks him with an important mission. Along with Robert Dudley, Dee’s daring friend and former student who is also rumored to be the Queen’s secret lover, Dee must travel to the famously mystical town of Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur. Once these long-lost relics, the embodiment of a legacy vitally important to the Tudor line, are ensconced in London, doubts as to the Queen’s supremacy as the rightful Tudor heir will be dispelled.

But the quest quickly turns deadly—Dee and Dudley arrive in Glastonbury to discover the town mourning the gruesome execution of its abbot, and more death soon follows at the old abbey. Racing to uncover the secrets buried there, Dee finds himself caught in the tangled roots of English magic, unexpected violence, the breathless stirring of first love . . . and the cold heart of a complex plot against Elizabeth.

Praise for The Bones of Avalon

“Phil Rickman is one of my all-time favorites. . . . He’s done it again, with his usual sense of permeating atmosphere, with vivid characters in a complex plot that grows through the bones of history like a deadly nightshade.” —Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of An Echo in the Bone

“A historical thriller with a touch of romance and more than a hint of necromancy . . . Brilliantly imagined and grippingly executed.” —The Times (London)