<p><strong>Brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss -- and in danger.</strong></p><p>Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder.</p><p>Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets.</p><p>Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.</p><p>'Castle's characters brim with zest and real feeling.' — Kirkus Starred Review.</p><p>Don't dally! Jump right into this first book in the award-winning Francis Bacon mystery series.</p>