Firedrake's Eye

In the Autumn of 1583, loyal courtier Simon Ames is viciously beaten. Is he the random prey of footpads, or the victim of a subtly treasonous act? Following a trail of murder, treason and terror, Ames and his dubious friend Becket set out to uncover the truth. But as they dig deep into the human midden that is Elizabethan London, puzzle becomes enigma, then riddle. What is the secret at the heart of the pageantry to be paraded before the Queen at the Accession Day tilts?

Firedrake's Eye is "historical fiction as it should be written. Patricia Finney's talent for writing of espionage makes her the le Carre of the sixteenth century," wrote Ruth Rendell in the Daily Telegraph when Firedrake's Eye was first published in 1992. "To read this book is to live for a while in another London, a place that is credible and entertaining. For all its dirt and danger, there is a rich pleasure in losing yourself in its tortuous streets," wrote Nicolette Jones in the Sunday Times.

Patricia Finney is the prize-winning author of three novels featuring Ames and Becket - Firedrake's Eye, Unicorn's Blood and Gloriana's Torch. Together, the three novels make up The Spies of God series. Patricia Finney is also the author of The James Enys Mysteries, Do We Not Bleed? and Priced Above Rubies. Under the pen-name P F Chisholm, Patricia Finney also writes the Sir Robert Carey series of novels.