From the author of Legacy, now a major BBC Film, comes a brilliant new historical crime novella for fans of Antonia Hodgson and CJ Sansom.

‘To Mr Thomas Combe my sword.’ These six words in Shakespeare’s will tell us that Shakespeare had a sword. Did he wear it? Did he use it? What sort was it? When and why did he get it? What happened to it? Might it – does it – still exist?

These questions plague Simon Gold, an antiques dealer. He believes he has identified the sword as belonging to a customer, an unworthy owner indifferent to cultural icons and uninterested in history. Simon is desperate to acquire the sword, but how? How far is he prepared to go to get it? In alliance with Charlotte, his customer’s attractive and disaffected wife, Simon finds himself going farther than he had intended - and finds, too, that Charlotte is rather more than she appears.

Praise for Alan Judd:

'Judd has an infallible grasp of intelligence' Spectator

'Wonderful. One of the best spy novels ever' Peter Hennessey on Legacy

'Plotting in the best le Carré tradition' Mail on Sunday

'Belongs to the classic tradition of spy writing' Guardian