It is 1679 and England is awash with suspicion. Fear of conspiracy and religious terrorism has provoked panic in politicians and a zealous reaction from the legal system. Everywhere, Catholic agents are plotting to overthrow the King—or so it is feared.

Now Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty, finds himself in a position few people then or now would have expected—charged with treason and facing a show trial and execution. Imprisoned in the Tower of London and abandoned by the embattled King he loyally served, Pepys sets to work with customary brilliance investigating his mysterious accuser, Colonel John Scott, and uncovers a life riddled with ambition, forgery, treason and, ultimately, murder.

One part history, one part bone-rattling suspense, James Long and Ben Long brilliantly evoke a turbulent period in England’s history and tell the forgotten story of the two most dangerous years in the life of the legendary diarist.It is 1679 and England is awash with suspicion. Fear of conspiracy and religious terrorism has provoked panic in politicians and a zealous reaction from the legal system. Everywhere, Catholic agents are plotting to overthrow the King—or so it is feared.

Now Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty, finds himself in a position few people then or now would have expected—charged with treason and facing a show trial and execution. Imprisoned in the Tower of London and abandoned by the embattled King he loyally served, Pepys sets to work with customary brilliance investigating his mysterious accuser, Colonel John Scott, and uncovers a life riddled with ambition, forgery, treason and, ultimately, murder.

One part history, one part bone-rattling suspense, James Long and Ben Long brilliantly evoke a turbulent period in England’s history and tell the forgotten story of the two most dangerous years in the life of the legendary diarist.