The Conjurer's Daughter

3.9/5 ( ratings)

London, 1599.

William Shakespeare is establishing himself as the best playwright in London, and the construction of the Globe is the final piece of the puzzle.

The Queen advises Shakespeare to visit the conjurer Dr Dee to help determine the dimensions of the Globe that will ensure it is a success.

The Merlin-like Dee shows Shakespeare his Book of Enoch – a supposedly sacred and powerful text written in the language of Adam.

Dee’s old partner Edward Talbot is rumoured to have passed away abroad – but he is back in Dee’s house and refusing to leave without the book.

When Dee dies nine years later, Shakespeare is surprised to find that he has been left the book in Dee’s will.

But when Shakespeare tries to collect the book from the chaplain Raphael Hawkesworth, he finds him hanged, with the marks on his neck suggesting murder.

Events turn even stranger when Dee’s beautiful daughter Miranda, who was reported to have died, appears as submissive wife to the callous gardener Hugo Carteret.

Shakespeare quickly falls in love with Miranda, and agrees to join Talbot’s mysterious fellowship in return for the Book of Enoch.

The group set sail for the Fellowship’s home in the Channel Islands, but run into a violent storm and are washed up and scattered ashore.

When Shakespeare finds another strangled body of one of the crew and overhears a plot to take his life, he fears he may not get out the island alive...

Conjurer's Daughter is a thrilling historical mystery that brings Shakespeare vividly to life.

Praise for Leonard Tourney:

“A gorgeous period piece.” Washington Post

“A soundly researched, roundly entertaining series.” New York Times Book Review

“Tourney’s plotting is expert.” Los Angeles Times

Leonard Tourney is a specialist in composition pedagogy and creative writing; he has authored scholarly articles in 17th century British literature, a critical biography of Joseph Hall, short fiction, and nine historical novels, the most recent a fictional memoir of William Shakespeare. He has taught at Western Illinois University, the University of Tulsa, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. His other Shakespearean historical fiction is called ‘Falstaff’s Murder’.