Matthew Prior is a writer, drinker and a womaniser living in Elizabethan London; he doesn't care for authority, lives on his wits and often falls foul of those ruling London. At the same time Matthew has a very perceptive mind and a natural curiosity that is often inclined to get him into trouble. Despite his desire to remain anonymous amongst the intrigues and dangers of the times in which he lives, Matthew is forced into the presence of Elizabeth's first minister Lord Burghley and is signed on as one of the spymaster's agents. Matthew sets out to solve a murder and ends up at the very centre of an apparent plot to depose and kill Queen Elizabeth. On the way he is reintroduced to a woman who occupied an important place in his own past and he falls in love with her. Matthew mixes with gargantuan figures such as William Shakespeareand Christopher Marlowe and blunders, sometimes hilariously towards a series of conclusions and discoveries that bring him directly into the presence of Good Queen Bess herself. This is a story of adventure, love, intrigue and betrayal, set amidst one of the most colourful and atmospheric periods of history.