England, 1586. Traitors are plotting for Mary Queen of Scots to depose Elizabeth I and take the throne, even as rumors spread of a Spanish invasion by sea. When a fellow agent of Sir Francis Walsingham is found murdered, Nicholas Holt sets off in pursuit of the killer, and finds evidence of a traitor working for Spain. In this sequel to A Murder by any Name, Holt's friends are in peril, and he must unravel the tangled plot, all the while steering a careful path through the fierce rivalry between Walsingham's agents and those of the Queen's favorite, the upstart Earl of Essex.