The Saracen's Mark

Betrayal has many guises . . .

London, 1593: Five years on from the Armada and England is taking its first faltering steps towards a future as a global power. Nicholas Shelby—reluctant spy and maverick physician—and his companion Bianca Merton are settling into a life on Bankside. But in London there is always a plot afoot . . . Robert Cecil, the Queen's spymaster, once again recruits Nicholas to embark on a dangerous undercover mission that will take him to the back alleys of Marrakech in search of a missing informer. However, while Nicholas hunts for the truth across the seas, plague returns once more to London—ravaging the streets and threatening those dearest to him. Can Bianca and Nicholas' budding relationship weather the threats of pestilence and conspiracy? And will Nicholas survive the dangers of his mission in a hostile city to return safely home?

"S. W. Perry is one of the best." —Times

"The third in Perry's series is as dramatic and colourful as the previous two." —Sunday Times

"An absolute belter of a read and another fabulous addition to the Jackdaw Mysteries series . . . I just gobbled up the pages as the story fairly roars along battling spies and pirates on route . . . S. W. Perry ensures the sights, smells and sounds of London and Morocco entered my very being. I love this series." —LoveReading, Picks of the month
 

"The writing is of such a quality, the characters so engaging and the setting so persuasive that, only two books in, S.W. Perry's ingeniously plotted novels have become my favourite historical crime series." —S. G. MacLean on The Serpent's Mark

"No-one is better than S. W. Perry at leading us through the squalid streets of London in the sixteenth century." —Andrew Swanston on The Serpent's Mark

"A satisfyingly convoluted plot." —Sunday Times on The Serpent's Mark

"The Serpent's Mark is an excellent evocation of Elizabethan England, with espionage, intricate conspiracies, strange medical practises and a gripping story. A rattling good read." —William Ryan on The Serpent's Mark

"A gorgeous book—rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure. It immerses you in the late 16th century and leaves you wrung out with terror. This is historical fiction at its most sumptuous." —Rory Clements on The Angel's Mark

S. W. Perry was a journalist and broadcaster before retraining as an airline pilot.