Longlisted for the Crime Writers'' Association Historical Fiction DaggerA Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Read''WONDERFUL!'' GILES KRISTIAN''SUMPTUOUS'' RORY CLEMENTS''GRIPPING'' ANNE O''BRIEN________________________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''An engaging Elizabethan thriller'' Sunday Times