In Time of the Poisoned Queen

1558 was a year of sinister and bloody conspiracy in England. Deserted by her husband, Philip of Spain, Queen Mary faces an ever-tightening circle of conspiracy and deceit. Rumours and whispers abound that she, like her first minister Reginald Cardinal Pole, is being slowly murdered by a subtle poison. There are many who would benefit from Mary's death: Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France and Mistress of the Poisons , beautiful Mary, Queen of Scots, heiress presumptive to the throne in the eyes of English Catholics, Pope Paul IV surveys the silken threads of treachery from his perch in Rome, and the Queen's own half-sister, Elizabeth, who takes council from her little wizard William Cecil. Who is behind the letters signed by the Four Evangelists ? What is the secret concealed in the phrase Mark 15.34 ? What does a verse from the Gospels predict about the future succession of England? Nicholas Segalla, a mysterious scholar and diplomat, must thread his way through this web of Byzantine intrigue.