The first book in the Dr. Dee series of Tudor thrillers, about the
astrologer royal to Queen Elizabeth I--a brew of compelling
storytelling, devious politics, witchcraft, and necromantic artsIt is
1560, and Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year. Dr John
Dee, at 32 already acclaimed throughout Europe, is her astrologer and
consultant in the hidden arts--a controversial appointment in these days
of superstition and religious strife. Now the mild, bookish Dee has been
sent to Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur, whose
legacy was always so important to the Tudor line. With him is hardly the
safest companion--his friend and former student, Robert Dudley, a
risk-taker, a wild card, and possibly the Queen's secret lover. The
famously mystical town is still mourning the gruesome execution of its
Abbot, Richard Whiting. But why was the Abbot really killed? What is the
secret held by the monks since the Abbey was founded by Joseph of
Arimathea, uncle of Christ and guardian of the Holy Grail? The mission
takes Dee to the tangled roots of English magic, into unexpected
violence, necromantic darkness, the breathless stirring of first love,
and the cold heart of a complex plot against Elizabeth.
