Witness of Bones — Leonard Tourney

As Queen Elizabeth slowly dies, Puritans and Papists play a deep game of deception. A plot is already afoot to unseat her principal advisor, Sir Robert Cecil, by destroying his good name. Therefore merchant-constable Matthew Stock, who considers Sir Robert his master, becomes a principal pawn. Devious means lure Matthew to the scene of a heinous murder--and the bloody knife next to the-body turns out to be his own.

It Is a Frame that Fits, and a Crime that Calls for the Penalty of Death.

Only the industrious and clever Joan Stock, Matthew's steadfast wife, is at liberty to save his neck from the gallows. That is, until the arrogant plotters, having bested Sir Robert and Matthew, turn their wicked attentions toward the humble clothier's wife--aiming to rid themselves of the one body who stands in their way....