The Rebel's Mark

'MY FAVOURITE HISTORICAL CRIME SERIES' S. G. MacLEAN 'BEAUTIFUL WRITING' GILES KRISTIAN

– In a world on the brink of change, showing any weakness can be fatal… 1598. Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and reluctant spy for Robert Cecil, has brought his wife Bianca and their child home from exile in Padua. Welcome at court, his star is in the ascendancy. But he has returned to a dangerous world.

Two old enemies are approaching their final reckoning. In London, Elizabeth is entering the twilight of her reign. In Madrid, King Philip of Spain is dying.

Elizabeth has seen off more than one Spanish attempt at invasion. But still she is not safe. In Ireland, rebellion against her rule is raging. And if Spain can take Ireland, England will be more vulnerable than ever.

When Robert Cecil receives a desperate plea for help, he dispatches Nicholas to Ireland to investigate. Soon he and Bianca find themselves caught up not just in bloody rebellion, but in the lethal power-play between Cecil and the one man Elizabeth believes can restore Ireland to her: the unpredictable Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.

Praise for S. W. Perry's Jackdaw Mysteries

'S. W. Perry is one of the best'

The Times

'No-one is better than S. W. Perry at leading us through the squalid streets of London in the sixteenth century' Andrew Swanston

'Historical fiction at its most sumptuous' Rory Clements