June, 1554. Former cutpurse and now professional assassin Jack Blackjack has deep misgivings about his latest assignment. He has been despatched to the Palace of Woodstock, where Queen Marys half-sister Princess Elizabeth is being kept under close guard. Jacks employer has reason to believe that a spy has been installed within the princesss household, and Jack has been ordered to kill her. Jack has no choice but to agree. But he arrives at Woodstock...

"July, 1556. En route to France and escape from Queen Mary's men, Jack Blackjack decides to spend the night at a Devon tavern, agrees to a game of dice - and ends up accused of murder. To make matters worse, the dead man turns out to have been the leader of the all-powerful miners who rule the surrounding moors - and they have no intention of waiting for the official court verdict to determine Jack's guilt. But who would frame Jack for murder . ....

"April, 1555. A priest has been stabbed to death in the village of St Botolph, to the east of the City of London, his body left to rot by the roadside - and Jack Blackjack stands accused of his murder. As well as clearing his name, Jack has his own reasons for wanting to find out who really killed the priest - but this is an investigation where nothing is as it seems. Was it a random attack by a desperate outlaw, or do the answers lie in the murdered...

"As the year 1326 draws to a close, London is in flames. King Edward II is held prisoner, and the mercenaries and rebels led by the vengeful Queen Isabella and her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer, are in the ascendant. While the richest in the kingdom fight over the spoils of the invasion, the Bardi family, bankers who once funded the King, are in a quandary. They must look to their own future with the Queen as the mob rampages over the city, steering a...