Publisher's Synopsis
Summer, 1643
England is at war with itself.King Charles Ihas fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed.
ForThomas Hill, a man of letters quietly running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of thewaris limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.
When a stranger knocks on his door one night and informs him that the king's cryptographer hasdied, everything changes. Aware of Thomas's background as a mathematician and his expertise incodesandciphers, the king has summoned him to his court inOxford.
On arrival, Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of atraitorin their midst. Brutalmurderfollows brutal murder. And when a vital message encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable code is intercepted, he must decipher it to reveal the king'sbetrayerand prevent the violent death that failure will surely bring.
