"A fascinating and unusual take on an Elizabethan spy thriller with lashings of intrigue and historical colour." Paul Walker, author of State of Treason 1570. A sadistic killer haunts England's streets, sent by a secretive band of plotters known only as The Diamond League. With agents across Europe, their goal is to provoke a bloody, religious war. Jack and Amy Cole - servants and spies - are reluctantly drawn into the service of Queen Elizabeth's spymaster, Francis Walsingham. Husband and wife are dispatched on different assignments. Jack is deposited in York, where he is encouraged to betray his fellow Catholics. He infiltrates the Jesuit brotherhood - but can he bring himself to destroy them? As terror grips the north, he finds himself the target of a vicious assassin.
Meanwhile, Amy is dispatched to France, to spy on the household of Catherine de Medici. Disguised as a great lady, she is drawn into a glittering, yet perilous, world of intrigue. The spy's every movement seems to be watched. The Diamond League's plot and personnel stretch from England to France. The bodies of Catholics and Protestants alike pile up across Europe. No one is safe. The hunters become the hunted. As the Diamonds' maniacal assassin pursues them across Europe, Jack and Amy must kill or be killed.
Divided Loyalties is the thrilling sequel to the bestselling A Dangerous Trade . Recommended for fans of CJ Samson, Rory Clements and SJ Parris. Praise for Author: A Dangerous Trade "A slow-burn character driven spy story that grips like a thumbscrew tightened by twist after twist towards the end - Le Carre transported to the 1560's. Brilliant work, based in impressively wide research and the kind of competition that I and a good number of others could well do without!" Peter Tonkin, author of A Stage For Murder The Abbey Close. Book One of The Simon Danforth Mysteries "The author balances gimlet-eyed research with narrative drive and clever reveals. Danforth is a strong yet torn central character. I look forward to reading the second book in the series." Richard Foreman.
Blood Feud: Mary Queen of Scots and the Earl of Moray "Much-needed analysis of a sinister sibling rivalry." Marie Macpherson, author of The First Blast of the Trumpet Elizabeth & Essex: Power, Passion and Politics "A sensitive and lively account of one of the most politically significant relationships of the Elizabethan age". Lisa Hopkins, author of Essex: The Life and Times of an Elizabethan Courtier.