The dramatic Elizabethan whodunnit
While rumours are rife of Queen Elizabeth's declining health, celebrated theatre company Lord Westfield's Men suffer their own bitter blows. Stage manager Nicholas Bracewell can keep the company afloat, but as the Queen sinks towards death, he discerns connections between the company's misfortunes and a larger shadow over England.
A vicious rivalry threatens to cause chaos for Lord Westfield's Men when the onstage duels between Owen Elias and Sebastian Carrick become ever more realistic. However, it is an axe that splits open Sebastian's head one night in a Clerkenwell alley.Company book holder Nicholas Bracewell, accustomed to damage control, begins to investigate the victim's death and learns that in life, he was prone to make enemies from his weakness for women and his unwillingness to settle his debts. A web of deception has in fact been spun that stretches from lowly to high ranking courtesans, all the way to the Virgin Queen.