A mysterious manuscript buried since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I connects twin tales of espionage, betrayal, and murder in this “delightfully literate . . . cracking good page-turner” (Minneapolis Star Tribune).

London, 1593: It is three weeks before the murder of Christopher Marlowe, playwright and spy in the queen’s secret service—a crime that remains unsolved to this day. Marlowe is hoping to find his missing muse as he sets off on a new intelligence assignment . . . and closes in on the secret that will seal his fate.

New York City, present day: Renaissance scholar turned private eye Kate Morgan investigates a shocking heist and murder involving an antique manuscript recently unearthed in central London. What secret lurks in those yellowed, ciphered pages . . . and how, centuries later, could it drive someone to kill?

Propelling us from the shadows of the sixteenth-century underworld to the chambers of a clandestine U.S. intelligence unit, from the glitter of the Elizabethan court to the catacombs of ancient Rome, The Intelligencer’s dual narratives twist, turn, and collide as they race toward a stunning finale.

A Main Selection of the Book of the Month Club

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