"Adroitly blends British history with a wonderful cast of actual and fictional characters."St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Vividly evocative of the era and marvelously readable."People

"Mr. Tourney seems to have a good understanding of his scenery, and his dialogue has a nice unmannered period feel. He gives us just enough of a sixteenth-century culture to establish the appropriate tone."New Yorker

Welcome to Shakespeare's London, a world where the stage captures the hearts of every citizen, where darkness hides dangerous and vengeful creatures. It is in the darkness that Shakespeare finds himself the victim of treachery most foul. When Shakespeare is contacted by his dark mistress, the former love of his life, he is excited to see her again after so long a separation. Much to his horror, he finds that the years have not been kind; she is now disease-ridden and near death, and she intends to blackmail him, threatening to expose their affair to the world unless he pays her considerable doctors' bills. A sudden fire takes her life, and the only witness who viewed the arsonist is violently murdered. Shakespeare is the primary suspect. Out on bail, he desperately races to uncover the truth behind the murder.