The year is 1603 and, nearly two years after his mysterious disappearance, Alice Fletcher's missing brother, Richard, has returned from beyond the grave--suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile, Alice, Richard, and Tom Cavendish must foil a Catholic plot against the new king, James I, involving the abduction of the country's most famous playwright: William Shakespeare. Packed with a heady Elizabethan atmosphere of political scheming, romance, and murder, the fast-paced, suspenseful plot will keep young readers glued to the page even as they gain insight into the history of Shakespeare's England.