Laura Dowers – författare

Elizabeth rose from her stool and stood, swaying for a moment, glaring at me. Then I saw her arm rise and I blinked. Something flew through the air and struck me on the forehead. I staggered backwards, my hand automatically rising to touch my brow. I saw black spots before my eyes. I looked down at the floor by my feet. Elizabeth's book lay there, open, its pages bent back beneath the cover.England in the sixteenth century is a country in turmoil.King Henry VIII's Reformation has left England divided between Catholics and Protestants. Most of the those who cling to the Old Faith are content to conform to the laws of the land. But there are some Catholics who wonder where their allegiance lies - to England's heretic queen or to the Pope?Francis Walsingham has no such doubts. As French ambassador, he witnesses the savagery of the St Bartholomew's Eve massacre, when Catholics slaughtered Protestants in their thousands, and he is determined England will never suffer the same fate.He begins to create an elaborate network of spies who will keep him informed of Catholic plots against Elizabeth, especially those that have Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots at their heart.Walsingham's mission is clear: to protect Elizabeth I from her enemies by whatever means necessary!

Essex is England's rising star. But for one star to rise, another must fall.England, 1588. The Spanish Armada has been defeated and everyone in the country rejoices. All except Elizabeth I, who is consumed by a private grief. The Earl of Leicester is dead, and without him by her side, the ageing queen has never felt more alone.Enter Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. Young, dazzling, and hungry for glory, he is everything Leicester once was, and Elizabeth cannot help but draw him close.But Robert has no interest in playing the lover to an old woman. He has his eye on the future, an England without Elizabeth, where a man once again wears the crown. He is willing to do whatever it takes to bring that future about, even if it means destroying the queen who made him.Elizabeth Tudor has outlived her enemies, survived assassination plots and held the throne alone for decades. She's not about to give it up without a fight.Robert cannot afford to lose this battle. For in the Tudor court, there are no prizes for coming second,only the headsman's axe.