The year is 1588.

The Spanish Armada has recently been defeated, and Queen Elizabeth rides in triumph through a celebrating London

But even in peace, the city has a deadly underbelly.

When the body of a Portuguese nobleman turns up on the banks of the Thames with a seal around his neck all fingers point towards Lord Rokesby as the murderer - particularly as the foreigner was last seen at a dinner party at his house the night before.

Yet there is more to this murder than meets the eye. John Lovat, Lord Rokesby's illegitimate brother, is called in to dig deeper into the events surrounding the death.

And the more he uncovers, the more complex the crime becomes.

Soon Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's chief counsellor and spy-master, takes an interest in the case.

And Lovat finds himself caught up in 'A Murderous Affair' - one that involves murder, betrayal and infidelity and which will take him from grand houses to the mean streets of Elizabethan London as he tracks down the truth.