A historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine. Atmospheric ... it demonstrates energy, elan, a fine ear for dialogue and a grasp for the intrigues of Elizabeth I's court. Clements also demonstrates the compelling eye for detail and character that Bernard Cornwell so memorably brought to Rifleman Sharpe ... I could not tear myself away, it is that good. Daily Mail Holy Spy is a fascinating Tudor spy thriller set during the reign of Elizabeth 1. A conspiracy is forming to kill the monarch and free Mary Queen of Scots, risking a Spanish invasion. Exciting stuff! Candis Magazine I didn't know what to expect from this - HOLY SPY is the first novel I've read in a well-established series. But what I got was a thoroughly entertaining, disturbing and involving mystery that I found next to impossible to put down. It's a substantial book but I was driven to read it over just 24 hours. Rory Clements is a wonderful writer who clearly knows Tudor England inside out and his enthusiasm - as well as concerns - for the period shine out. I loved it. I will be catching up. For Winter Nights Elizabethan England comes vividly to life in this fast-paced thriller, packed with characters, tension and fine detail. Choice Magazine Holy Spy lures us into dark passages peopled by ranting fanatics, sensuous whores, treacherous turncoats, vicious thugs and subtle codebreakers.Skilfully blending real events and historical figures with believable fiction and colourful invented characters ... Daily Mail An exuberant plot and dialogue that hums with Elizabethan slang, profanity and wit ...Clements delivers a bawdy, engaging romp of book. The Times Praise for the John Shakespeare novels: The sixth in Rory Clements' enjoyable series of Elizabethan thrillers featuring John Shakespeare ... Clements has the edge when it comes to creating a lively, fast-moving plot The Sunday Times Enjoyable, bloody and brutish Guardian Sixteenth-century London comes alive in all its tawdriness Daily Mail A world spiced with delicious characters ... The novel wears its historical learning lightly, and Clements seasons it with romance and humour Mail on Sunday Beautifully done ... alive and tremendously engrossing Daily Telegraph ***** A cracking plot full of twists right up to the last minute. I look forward to the next Sunday Express Colourful ... exciting ... vivid Sunday Telegraph Marvellous ... intelligencer John Shakespeare ... administers what can only be described as ruff justice Daily Telegraph Engrossing ... we can expect to see more of the brothers Shakespeare. They will be welcome Washington Post Real quality ... faster moving than C. J. Sansom ... very, very well done Front Row, BBC Radio 4 This is a first-class mystery steeped in authentic sixteenth-century intrigue; the evocation of the stench and squalor of Tudor London is sans pareil Good Book Guide Step into the world of Elizabethan intelligencer John Shakespeare and you put your very life in peril, whether it be by the blade, the rope or the rack ... High adventure has never been more exciting Northern Echo

Rory Clements is the bestselling author of the John Shakespeare series of Tudor spy thrillers. His six acclaimed novels, Martyr, Revenger, Prince, Traitor, The Heretics and The Queen's Man, follow Elizabeth's Intelligencer, John Shakespeare, brother to the playwright William, through the dark underworld of Tudor England as he unmasks the traitors and conspirators who plot against the Queen. Rory Clements won the Crime Writers' Association Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award in 2010 for Revenger, and has been shortlisted for CWA Awards for Martyr, Prince and The Heretics. A TV series is currently in development. Find out more at www.roryclements.co.uk