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.