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Another book which I bought a few weeks ago is Martyr by Rory Clements. It is Set in 1587 and starts off In a burnt-out house, where one of Queen Elizabeth’s aristocratic cousins is found murdered, her flesh marked with profane symbols. At the same time a plot is also discovered to assassinate England’s feared sea warrior Sir Francis Drake – a plot which, if successful, could leave the country open to Spanish invasion.

So a chap named John Shakespeare, the chief intelligencer in Sir Francis Walsingam’s spy network, is trusted with the task of protecting Sir Francis Drake from assassination.

Following a trail of illicit passions and family secrets, Shakespeare travels through a teeming underworld of enemy agents, sorcerers, whores and poets, among whom is his own younger brother, the struggling playmaker Will.

As he unravels a complex conspiracy of international intrigue, he finds himself shadowed at every turn by his deadly rival, the Queen’s brutal torturer Richard Topcliffe – John Shakespeare soon realises his own family and the beautiful woman he desires could also be in grave danger…