As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate disclosure.

Home / Books / The Spymaster
The Spymaster cover

Book

The Spymaster

by John Pilkington Book 1 in the Marbeck Mysteries series.

First published 2012

Amazon
2.5(5)

London, 1600. With the Anglo-Spanish War still unresolved, Robert Cecil calls on Martin Marbeck to identify a double agent who is passing English secrets to Spain. Marbeck is already under suspicion after a failed mission in Flanders, so finding the traitor known as Mulberry is also his chance to restore his standing inside the intelligence service.

The investigation carries him from London to France and back through a network of informers, false identities and competing loyalties. Rumours that Philip III may be preparing another Spanish offensive give the search urgency, while Marbeck's own methods make him difficult for his superiors to control. The story places intelligence work inside the dangerous final years of Elizabeth I's reign, when political survival depends on secrets that may be impossible to verify until too late.

Historical Periods

Anglo-Spanish War1585–1604 CE

Genres

Court & Political Fiction Crime & Mystery Espionage Historical Thriller

Historical people

Elizabeth I1533–1603 Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury1563–1612 Philip III of Spain1578–1621

Series reading order

Books in the Marbeck Mysteries series

More from this period

5 more top-rated novels about Anglo-Spanish War

Ranked by rating and voting volume; books already shown on this page are omitted.

Best novels about Anglo-Spanish War

More by the author

Other books by John Pilkington

View all books by this author

Discover more

Authors similar to John Pilkington

Recommended from shared genres and periods.

Geoffrey Trease 44 books

Historical mystery, espionage and political intrigue in Elizabethan Age and Elizabethan Travelling Players and Theatre

Deborah Swift 21 books

Historical mystery, espionage and political intrigue in Great Fire of London and Restoration London