Two intertwined naratives each bulid to a thrilling climax, and reveal Terry Deary as a brilliant storyteller. Packed with colourful vignettes of life in Tudor times, the novel races along with the vitality and compulsive readability that have made his Horrible Histories a samsh hit with children everywhere. Lively line drawings, including maps and plans, punctuate the text throughout.

A tale of adventure from the author of the bestselling HORRIBLE HISTORIES A handsome stranger claiming to be one of Queen Elizabeth's spies arrives at Marsden Manor and asks for help. Will Marsden and his grandfather seize on the chance for adventure! As they set out on their journey, Grandfather tells Will how his own father fought for Henry VIII at the battle of Flodden Field. Then, as now, there were desperate skirmishes on the Borders between the English and the Scots Reivers - cattle thieves. Riding north to Scotland, neither of them realises what danger they are being led into. Luckily, Meg the serving girl is very clever . . .

In the north of England, in the last days of Elizabeth I, a silver cup has been stolen from Marsden Hall. . . Meg the serving girl will hang for it, unless she agrees to spy on her friends at the Black Bull Tavern. Her friend Will Marsden is desperate to save her. As Meg and Will struggle with the dilemma, Will's mother tells them a story she has kept secret for years: how she herself, as a young lady-in-waiting, was forced to spy on Mary Queen of Scots. Two stories of spies and double-dealing intertwine in Terry Deary's exciting tale of adventure set in Tudor times.

The Marsden family are deep in debt and in danger of losing their home, Marsden Manor. Sir James Marsden sets sail for London to sell a cargo of coal to save the family fortunes, taking Will Marsden and Meg the serving girl along. But someone seems to be out to get them... When Sir James recounts his adventures sailing the Pacific with Sir Francis Drake, Will and Meg work out a plan of action. Pirates, spies and sea captains feature in Terry Deary's tale of suspense set in Tudor times.

A man with one eye is trying to kill young Will Marsden. All Will wants is to get to Stratford where William Shakespeare haspromised him work, but somebody seems to think he has important information. And when Shakespeare's daughter Judith is kidnapped, Will and his friend Meg discover that the world of the theatre is not what it seems. Certain actors are spying on their countrymen, on the orders of the queen herself...It takes Will's courage, Meg's ingenuity and the genius of Shakespeare himself to get out of the desperate plot they find themselves mixed up in.

The sixth and final thrilling Tudor adventure, by the bestselling author of the Horrible Histories. Queen Elizabeth is dying, and England is in turmoil. There are witch hunts going on. No one is safe, not even Will's grandmother. The penalty is death by drowning. So Will is sent to London to clear the Marsden family name. He gets to meet the Queen—but he hasn't bargained for Doctor Dee, the great magician she admires so, nor for the plots and conspiracies that surround her. It's a race against time for Will and his friend Meg, and they have dangerous enemies. But Will discovers some strange parallels with his grandmother's experiences as a girl at the court of Queen Mary, Elizabeth's bitter rival ...