#1 – The Queen’s Man
England, 1582. On his first major mission for Francis Walsingham, the young John Shakespeare is ordered to investigate a conspiracy to release Mary, Queen of Scots, from captivity at Sheffield Castle. The plot is part of the wider struggle between Elizabeth I’s Protestant government and Catholics…
#2 – Holy Spy
England, 1586. A group of Catholic conspirators plans to assassinate Elizabeth I, free Mary, Queen of Scots, and support a Spanish invasion. Francis Walsingham places John Shakespeare inside the conspiracy as the government gathers the evidence needed to destroy it. Shakespeare’s official mission collides with a…
#3 – Martyr
England, 1587. With Mary, Queen of Scots awaiting execution and conflict with Spain drawing closer, Francis Walsingham’s intelligencer John Shakespeare intercepts evidence of a plot to kill Francis Drake. He is ordered to protect the admiral, whose survival may be essential to England’s defence. At the…
#4 – Revenger
England, 1592. After Francis Walsingham’s death, John Shakespeare has withdrawn from intelligence work, but Robert Cecil summons him back into royal service. His assignment is to recover sensitive papers held by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, whose popularity, military reputation and intimacy with Elizabeth I make…
#5 – Prince
London, 1593. Plague, food shortages and fear of Spanish attack have made the capital volatile when a series of bombings targets the city’s Dutch immigrant community. John Shakespeare investigates the attacks as public hostility toward foreigners threatens to turn organised violence into wider disorder. The inquiry…
#6 – Traitor
An advanced optical instrument has given the Elizabethan navy a potential advantage over Spain. Spanish agents seek both the device and the men who understand it: the operative William Ivory and its inventor, the mathematician and astrologer John Dee. John Shakespeare is sent north to escort…
#7 – The Heretics
England, 1595. A Spanish raid on Cornwall raises fears that the attack was a rehearsal for invasion, and Robert Cecil orders John Shakespeare to discover its purpose. The investigation becomes more urgent when members of England’s intelligence network are murdered in succession. The trail connects the…