Discover murder and mayhem in the court of Henry VIIISummer, 1522. In a wave of pomp, Henry VIII's court welcomes the Imperial emperor Charles V. Anthony Blanke the son of the king's late'black trumpet', John Blanke  is called to Hampton Court by Cardinal Wolsey who is preparing a gift for the King: a masque of King Arthur and the Black Knight. Anthony is set to take centre stage.Soon, the festive mood sours. Wolsey's historian is found gruesomely murdered and a reluctant Anthony is charged with investigating the crime. His mission takes him through ancient monastic libraries and the back streets of London and sees him lock horns with secretive monks, historian Polydore Vergil, and a new face at court, Anne Boleyn. Blanke must discover the murderer, secure the great masque, and avoid King Henry's wrath.'Beautifully written ... a unique tale told in a unique voice' - S.G. Maclean

Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and a Mauritian father and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII's six wives.