Bøger i Chronicles of Christoval Alvar serien

Facing the threat of King Philip's Enterprise of England - Spanish invasion and annexation of the country - Sir Francis Walsingham's secret service spreads a network of agents across Europe. After caring for hundreds of maimed and wounded soldiers returning from the fall of Sluys, young physician and code-breaker Christoval Alvarez is sent on two dangerous missions to Amsterdam, where, amongst the friendly Hollanders, treason and treachery lurks. Christoval's ship, sailing home, plays its part in the great sea battle in which the small and inexperienced English navy must confront the most powerful sea force in the world.

An agent sent to Muscovy to investigate suspected treason amongst employees of the Muscovy Company has disappeared without trace on the way to Astrakhan. Sir Francis Walsingham, who began the investigation, is dead, but the directors of the Company know that the agent must be found, dead or alive. The perfect opportunity comes when the Tsar, Emperor of All the Russias, asks for an English physician to treat his young half brother. Christoval Alvarez, physician and former Walsingham agent, is the obvious choice, but is loathe to travel to this violent and barbarous land. However, there is no withstanding some of the most powerful men in England, so Kit is soon on the way to Muscovy, facing storms, attack by pirates, and a fearsome Russian winter. The search for the missing agent is fraught with danger, but Kit is soon also caught up in the murderous world of Muscovy politics. To enter the realm of the Tsar is difficult. To escape may be impossible.

When the violent arrest of an innocent apprentice sparks a riot in Southwark during the summer of 1592, more lies behind it than a simple grievance. Increasing poverty, vagrancy, and crime in a restless London compel a nervous Privy Council to close the playhouses, forcing Lord Strange's Men to go on tour, while hostility to foreign refugees, aggravated by Marlowe's play, The Jew of Malta, adds to the danger on the streets for Strangers like Kit Alvarez. Other dangers are more subtle. The ensnaring of young men by illegal loan sharks and the circulation of damning accusations, both public and private, increase the atmosphere of fear and distrust which permeates a city threatened by twin evils - death of the body from plague, death of the soul from heresy. The performance of the new play of Dr Faustus seems prophetic when it is followed by 'a great reckoning in a little room'.