Marbeck and the Gunpowder Plot (Martin Marbeck Mysteries Book #4)

England, 1605.

Discontent with King James’s reign is growing, with the country still fiercely divided between Protestant and Catholic. Rumours abound, and the intelligence service is stretched to its limits.

Crown intelligencer Martin Marbeck is keeping watch on a notorious Papist malcontent, Thomas Percy. But this assignment takes on greater urgency when an informer warns him of imminent danger - not only to the King and Royal Family, but to the entire seat of government.

To his anger and frustration, the overworked spymaster Levinus Monk refuses to take Marbeck's concerns seriously, leaving the agent to his own devices.

From former spy John Cutler, Marbeck learns of secret consignments of gunpowder being moved. Then, after assisting at the discovery of a Jesuit priest in hiding, he stumbles upon a frightening conspiracy.

Following a tortuous trail, finding both enemies and allies where he least expected, as the 5th November approaches the agent has only days in which to expose the conspirators and prevent a catastrophe.

In what could be his last assignment, with his own future in jeopardy, Marbeck must draw on every scrap of his courage and skills. But when the Gunpowder Plot is at last revealed in all its horror, what lies behind its near-success turns out to be cause for astonishment.