The Queen's Lies
A Novel
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The latest in the thrilling and “lively” (The New York Times) Agents of the Crown series follows John Dee and his wife working together in an act of espionage that may turn out to be treason.
While working on a powerful new weapon for England, the country’s first secret agent John Dee finds himself threatened from all sides. First, his secret plans are stolen, then his son is kidnapped by a vengeful enemy from his past. At the same time, Dee’s wife, Jane, is sent by Queen Elizabeth I to console her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, as court advisors attempt to try her for treason.
But Jane suspects her assignment is much more than a visit from a sympathetic cousin. Is it possible that Elizabeth sent her to speed Mary to her death without the public trial that she knows will forever define the limits of royal power? Together, John and Jane begin to feel genuine sympathy for the Scottish queen and work to finish his invention, protect their son, and save Mary from the scaffold. But can they do that while remaining loyal to the English crown?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Clements's fast-paced if haphazard fourth adventure for alchemist and mathematician John Dee, adviser to Queen Elizabeth I (after All the Queen's Spies), centers on a series of plots that could reshape the Tudor Dynasty. Dee has promised the queen that he will provide cannons for the Royal Navy, but when his down payment is stolen and the munitions expert he's tapped for the job is murdered, he scrambles to track down the necessary equipment himself—until his son is kidnapped by his old nemesis, Frenchwoman Mlle. Báthory, who's seeking revenge for Dee's role in blocking her attempted coup against Elizabeth. Meanwhile, another of the queen's advisers seeks to frame Mary, Queen of Scots, for treason against the British throne, a move Elizabeth strains to stop, fearing it would undermine the British public's belief in divine rule. Little do either of the monarchs know, there's a band of conspirators scheming to assassinate Elizabeth and put Mary on the throne. Dee and his wife catch wind of this plot and work to save both Elizabeth and Mary from execution, all while trying to rescue their son from the vicious Báthory. Though the premise generates suspense, Clements struggles to tie his many subplots together, and he skimps on character development. This is hardly the author's best.
