Carlisle in 1592 is one of the most dangerous parts of Queen Elizabeth's kingdom, where the law of the Scots gives way to the law of the English, often leaving gaps where there is no law at all. Sir Robert Carey, the new deputy warden of the West March, must solve a murder and avert a minor civil war.

Sir Robert Carey has just foiled a double plot against King James. He rides for Leith hunting the would-be assassin now identified as Joachim Hochstetter, also known as Jonathan Hepburn. Has he taken ship for the Continent, or ridden nearly 130 miles south and west into England? There at Keswick, his family, originally from Augsburg, runs a mining operation that pays a royalty to Queen Elizabeth in gold. It's ruled by the widow Radagunda Hochstetter,...