The King‘s Spy

Thomas Hill Trilogy #1
Summer, 1643. England is at war with itself. King Charles I has fled London, his negotiations with Parliament in tatters. The country is consumed by bloodshed.
For Thomas Hill, a quiet man running a bookshop in the rural town of Romsey, knowledge of the war is limited to the rumours that reach the local inn.
When a stranger knocks on his door informing him that the king’s cryptographer has died, everything changes. Aware of Thomas’s expertise in codes and ciphers, the king has summoned him to Oxford.
On arrival, Thomas soon discovers that nothing at court is straightforward. There is evidence of a traitor in their midst. Brutal murder follows brutal murder. When a vital message is intercepted, encrypted with a notoriously unbreakable cipher, more lives are in danger.
But will Thomas decipher it in time to reveal the king’s betrayer and prevent another violent death?