‘Full of tension and danger… powerfully atmospheric’ JENNIFER SAINT

‘A beautifully crafted thriller… Breathtaking and bone-chilling’ MANDA SCOTT

‘Maitland is a superlative historical novelist’ REBECCA MASCULL

Whispers haunt the walls and treachery darkens the shadows in this captivating historical novel for readers of C.J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor’s Ashes of London and Kate Mosse.

Winter, 1607. A man is struck down in the grounds of Battle Abbey, Sussex. Before dawn breaks, he is dead.

Home to the Montagues, Battle has caught the paranoid eye of King James. The Catholic household is rumoured to shelter those loyal to the Pope, disguising them as servants within the abbey walls. And the last man sent to expose them was silenced before his report could reach London.

Daniel Pursglove is summoned to infiltrate Battle and find proof of treachery. He soon discovers that nearly everyone at the abbey has something to hide - for deeds far more dangerous than religious dissent. But one lone figure he senses only in the shadows, carefully concealed from the world. Could the notorious traitor Spero Pettingar finally be close at hand?

As more bodies are unearthed, Daniel determines to catch the culprit. But how do you unmask a killer when nobody is who they seem?

DANIEL PURSGLOVE BOOK TWO

Praise for THE DROWNED CITY

‘Dark and enthralling’ ANDREW TAYLOR

‘This gripping thriller shows what a wonderful storyteller Maitland is’ THE TIMES

‘Colourful and compelling’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Goes right to the heart of the Jacobean court’ TRACY BORMAN

‘Devilishly good’ DAILY MAIL

‘Spies, thieves, murderers and King James I? Brilliant’ CONN IGGULDEN

‘There are few authors who can bring the past to life so compellingly… Brilliant writing and more importantly, riveting reading’ SIMON SCARROW

‘The intrigues of Jacobean court politics simmer beneath the surface in this gripping and masterful crime novel’ KATHERINE CLEMENTS

‘Beautifully written with a dark heart, Maitland knows how to pull you deep into the early Jacobean period’ RHIANNON WARD