Firedrake's Eye — Patricia Finney

Brilliantly written in language eerily reminiscent of Elizabethan English, this novel is set in 16th-century England and concerns a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth I. When it was first published in 1992, the critics raved: "A talent for writing espionage makes her the Le Carre of the 16th century. . ." (Ruth Rendell, author of The Bridesmaid).