St Andrews, 1583. The young king, James VI, is confined at Falkland Palace, plotting his escape. Dissension rages between Kirk and Crown, the king and his "lord enterprisers," and between the separate factions of the church. In St Andrews Castle, a bishop in decline plays out his darkest fantasies while lawyer Hew Cullan and his friend, Giles, investigate the true source of his sickness, uncovering corruption at its heart. The death of a young soldier implicates Hew's sister and Giles's wife, Meg, and leads Hew to an astonishing discovery and towards his blackest hour, his fortunes inextricable from those of James himself. Real historical figures woven into this fantastical tale are James VI, the bastard son of James V, spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham, and Alison Pearson who was executed for witchcraft in 1588.
