Peg Herring

"Simon Maldon is sent by Queen Elizabeth to form an honest assessment of the Scottish queen's character. With Simon gone, his son Henry, wife Hannah, and old friend Calkin delve into the murder of Simon's brother-in-law, Will Clark. Determined to hide his crimes, the killer is willing even eager to murder again. Simon faces his own trials when Scottish outlaws capture his party. In order to thwart their leader's grandiose schemes, Simon must escape and make his way to Edinburgh. Will the rough men of the Marches help or leave the Englishman to make his way as best he can?"--

Declared a traitor, Elizabeth Tudor is imprisoned in the Tower of London. Visiting the princess secretly, her friend Simon Maldon discovers another cause for worry: his outlaw friend Peto the Pope has been arrested for a murder he swears he did not commit. As Simon frets over Elizabeth's peril and Peto's certain execution, his wife Hannah deals with her own mystery after taking in a frightened pregnant girl who she learns is not as she first seemed.

Tessa macFindlaech meets three witches on a Scottish hillside as she leaves her home to join the household of her uncle, Thane Macbeth. The weird women make predictions for her future, but Tessa sees no likelihood of truth in them. After all, the first crone claims Tessa is on her way to England, which is in the opposite direction. Surprises await that make her reconsider the prophecies. Captured and taken to England, Tessa finds love, but love is not always wise. Does the man she loves return her affection, or will he plunge her into danger again, as he has done before? Set against the backdrop of Macbeth's rise and fall from power in Scotland, this historical novel provides both romance and adventure. Like her famous uncle, Macbeth's niece Tessa refuses to settle for an ordinary life, no matter how difficult the extraordinary becomes.