In 1583, the 19-year-old Christopher Marlowe—a playwright with a reputation as a brawler, a womanizer, and a genius—is visited by an agent of the young man's benefactors. There are rumors of a plot against Queen Elizabeth, and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham dispatches Marlowe to track down the truth, which will involve freeing an enigmatic prisoner from a Maltese dungeon. In this series debut by the author of the Edgar Award winner Easy, Marlowe must employ his full wit and daring to unravel this great mystery—a scheme of assassination and invasion involving the government of Spain, English nobles, and the Pope himself.