Longlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Historical Fiction Dagger, 2019A Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Read 2019’Rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure, leaving you wrung out with terror. Historical fiction at its most sumptuous.’ Rory Clements________________________Heresy. Conspiracy. Murder…London, 1590: Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars, Queen Elizabeth I’s control over her kingdom is wavering. And a killer is at work, preying on the weak and destitute of London… Idealistic physician Nicholas Shelby becomes determined to end these terrible murders. Joined in his investigations by Bianca, a beautiful but mysterious tavern keeper, the pair find themselves caught in the middle of a sinister plot. With the killer still at large, Bianca finds herself in terrible danger. Nicholas’s choice seems impossible – to save Bianca, or save himself…’Wonderful! Perry’s Elizabethan London is so skilfully evoked, so real that one can almost smell it.’ Giles Kristian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London, 1590. Queen Elizabeth I’s control over her kingdom is wavering. Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars threatening the country’s fragile stability, the body of a small boy is found in the City of London, with strange marks that no one can explain. When idealistic physician Nicholas Shelby finds another body displaying the same marks only days later, he becomes convinced that a killer is at work, preying on the weak and destitute of London. Determined to find out who is behind these terrible murders, Nicholas is joined in his investigations by Bianca, a mysterious tavern keeper. As more bodies are discovered, the pair find themselves caught in the middle of a sinister plot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[68],"product_tag":[26816,316,69],"class_list":["post-106419","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-general-fiction","product_tag-crime-mystery-fiction","product_tag-espionage-spy-thriller","product_tag-historical-fiction","pa_book_author-perry-s-w","pa_cover-paperback","pa_dewey-823-92-edition23","pa_edition-1st-paperback-ed","pa_imprint-corvus","pa_language-english","pa_pages-14857","pa_publisher-atlantic-books","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","instock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\n