The Elizabethan spy discovers conspiracy and murder in northern England in this historical mystery inspired by true events.
England, 1593. Under the threat of a second Spanish Armada, the maverick magician Dr. Dee has created a secret weapon for the crown. Now John Shakespeare-court spy and brother of the famous playwright-has been sent to Lancashire to keep the man and his invention safe.
But when the country is a hotbed of secret loyalties and civil unrest, a simple assignment leads to deadly complications. Shakespeare stumbles upon Catholic priests in hiding, a mysterious Bohemian seductress, and-of course-murder.
Between facing off with a nefarious witch hunter and attending one of the first performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the intrepid John Shakespeare fights to stay alive while on the hunt for a deadly traitor.