Beautifully written ... a unique tale told in a unique voice' - S.G.
Maclean
Summer, 1522. In a wave of pomp, Henry VIII's court welcomes the
Imperial emperor, Charles V. Anthony Blanke, the son of the king's late
'black trumpet', John Blanke, is called to Hampton Court by his former
employer, Cardinal Wolsey. The cardinal is preparing a gift for King
Henry: a masque of King Arthur and the Black Knight. Anthony is to take
centre stage.
The festive mood, however, quickly sours. Wolsey's historian, charged
with proving the king's descent from King Arthur, is found murdered, his
body posed in a gruesome tableau. A reluctant Anthony is charged with
investigating the affair. His mission takes him on the path trod by the
historian, through ancient monastic libraries and the back streets of
London.
On a journey that takes him from Hampton Court to Windsor and
Winchester, and which sees him lock horns with secretive monks,
historian Polydore Vergil, and a new face at court, Anne Boleyn, he must
discover the murderer, secure the great masque, and avoid King Henry's
wrath.