Shakespeare's Blood

Secretive men, ancient spies, the location of a huge cache of treasure, and, most amazing of all, secrets concerning England's greatest playwright await readers in SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD. While vacationing in Britain, Mercedes Maxwell discovers a woman stabbed to death in an old castle. Soon afterward her traveling companion is murdered, and Mercedes is horrified to learn the police suspect her of the murder. An old journal she discovers in her luggage that might connect the two crimes, but her theory is dismissed by the inspector in charge. Once her tour goes on without her, Mercedes is determined to figure out the book's secrets. Within hours she's spun into a world of terror. Desperate to get the journal, the killer chases her across Britain, leaving corpses posed as Shakespearean characters in his wake. By chance--or perhaps not--Mercedes meets Colm, a handsome actor who seems determined to protect her. As they follow the book's clues to Scotland, she gets the feeling Colm knows things he isn't telling her. Eventually Mercedes strikes out on her own, leaving him behind. Not that she's alone in her search. There's an odd-looking man following her, and a woman who was probably once Colm's lover shows interest in journal. A young policeman says he wants to keep her safe but seems unwilling to step outside the law to do so. In Salisbury Mercedes finds David, an elderly scholar who knows a lot about events connected to the journal. He wants to solve the journal's mysteries--at least that's what he says, but Mercedes has to ask herself, Who can be trusted when Spanish gold is involved? After all, it isn't only Shakespeare's Blood she has to be concerned about. Her own blood is at stake too.