It is March 1570 and Elizabeth’s court has just crushed the Northern rebellion that sought to throw her from the throne in favor of Mary Queen of Scots.

Relief is shattered when a body is found near the palace. The ritualistic killing, a cloven hoof-print, a calling card, and the terrifying message daubed on the wall, point to a long-forgotten pagan deity linked to the Templars.

John Dee and Margaretta must navigate a community under threat, a pattern of poisoning, a City in fear of a specter, and the dark arts of rival queens as they race between England and the courts of France to uncover an assassin known only as Baphomet.