{"title":"Series: John Shakespeare","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"martyr-by-rory-clements-9781848540781","title":"Martyr","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngland is close to war. Within days, the axe could fall on the neck of Mary Queen of Scots, and Spain is already gathering a battle fleet to avenge her. Tensions in Elizabeth I's government are at breaking point. At the eye of the storm is John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer in the secret service of Sir Francis Walsingham.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen an intercept reveals a plot to assassinate England's \"sea dragon,\" Francis Drake, Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. With Drake on land fitting out his ships, he is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a London rife with rumour, Shakespeare must decide which leads to follow and which to ignore. When a high-born young woman is found mutilated and murdered at an illicit printing house, it is political gunpowder, and he has no option but to investigate. But why is Shakespeare shadowed at every turn by the brutal Richard Topcliffe, the blood-drenched priest-hunter who claims intimacy with Queen Elizabeth herself?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is Topcliffe's interest in a housemaid, whose baby has been stolen? And where do two fugitive Jesuit priests fit into the puzzle, one happy to die for God, the other to kill for Him?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the splendour and intrigue of the royal court, to the sleek warships of Her Majesty's Navy and the teeming brothels of Southwark, Shakespeare soon learns that nothing is as it seems...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072620347628,"sku":"9781848540781","price":30.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/0c3c6cf07c37affd0f6b016137b40bd4.jpg?v=1765187471"},{"product_id":"revenger-by-rory-clements-9781848540859","title":"Revenger","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1592. England and Spain are at war, yet there is peril at home, too. The death of her trusted spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham has left Queen Elizabeth vulnerable. Conspiracies multiply.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe quiet life of John Shakespeare is shattered by a summons from Robert Cecil, the cold but deadly young statesman who dominated the last years of the Queen's long reign, insisting Shakespeare re-enter government service. His mission: to find vital papers, now in the possession of the Earl of Essex.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEssex is the brightest star in the firmament, a man of ambition. He woos the Queen, thirty-three years his senior, as if she were a girl his age. She is flattered by him—despite her loathing for his mother, the beautiful, dangerous Lettice Knollys who presides over her own glittering court—a dazzling array of the mad, bad, dangerous and disaffected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen John Shakespeare infiltrates this dissolute world, he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger, but that he and his family are also targets. With only his loyal footsoldier Boltfoot Cooper at his side, Shakespeare must face implacable forces who believe themselves above the law: men and women who kill without compunction. And in a world of shifting allegiances, just how far can he trust Robert Cecil, his devious new master?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRevenger\u003c\/em\u003e by Rory Clements entwines history and suspense in an enthralling narrative of espionage and danger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072651509996,"sku":"9781848540859","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4050253482846.jpg?v=1765123410"},{"product_id":"the-queens-man-by-rory-clements-9781848548480","title":"The Queen's Man","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIncludes BONUS short story\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eFANS OF THE EXPLOSIVE BBC TV SERIES 'GUNPOWDER' STARRING KIT HARRINGTON will love the bestselling \u003ci\u003eJohn Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e series of Tudor spy thrillers from Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'[Clements] does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEngland is a Judas nest of conspiracy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is 1582, and the conflict between Protestant and Catholic threatens to tear the country in two. While Queen Elizabeth I holds the reins of power, there are those whose loyalty lies with her imprisoned cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn his first major mission for Sir Francis Walsingham, the young John Shakespeare is ordered to discover a conspiracy to free the Stuart queen from Sheffield Castle. All too soon, he realises that the tentacles of the plot reach deep into his native Warwickshire and threaten his own friends and family. His duty lies with Elizabeth - but how far will he go to protect those he loves?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072776061164,"sku":"9781848548480","price":28.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/09f12e8890425cd0fe53639d9ab4660d.jpg?v=1765187108"},{"product_id":"traitor-by-rory-clements-9781848544321","title":"Traitor","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFor fans of CJ Sansom and SJ Parris, \u003ci\u003eTraitor\u003c\/i\u003e is the fourth in\u003c\/strong\u003e Rory Clements' acclaimed and bestselling \u003ci\u003eJohn Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e series of Tudor spy thrillers. Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, 'does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Elizabethan navy has a secret weapon: an optical instrument so powerful it gives England unassailable superiority at sea. Spain will stop at nothing to steal it and seize the two men who understand its secrets - its operative William Ivory, known as the 'Queen's Eye', and its inventor, the maverick magician Dr Dee.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a second Armada threatened, intelligencer John Shakespeare is sent north to escort Dr Dee to safety. But his mission is far from straightforward. Dee's host, the Earl of Derby, cousin to Elizabeth, is dying in agony, apparently poisoned. Who wants him dead and why? What lies behind the lynching of the recusant priest Father Matthew Lamb? And what exactly is the connection between these events and the mysterious and beautiful Lady Eliska?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Shakespeare attempts to untangle a plot that points to treachery at the very highest reaches of government, he also faces serious accusations far closer to home. With so much at stake, must he choose between family and his duty to Queen and country?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoving from the Catholic heartlands of Lancashire to a vagabond camp in the heart of England, and from the deck of Admiral Frobisher's flagship off the Brittany coast to the secret meetings of Elizabeth's closest associates, \u003ci\u003eTraitor\u003c\/i\u003e is award-winning writer Rory Clements' most intriguing and compelling novel to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072952877292,"sku":"9781848544321","price":25.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4084873482846.jpg?v=1765134080"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/series-john-shakespeare.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}