The Maltese Falcon was no mere legend--this fabulously jewelled golden bird really existed. Still exists, according to the last words of a dying man. Ayesha Ryder is on its trail, but not just to find the Falcon itself. It is said to contain a clue to the lost burial place of King Harold of England, a potent symbol for ruthless politicians determined to break up the UK and create a new, independent English Kingdom. The Falcon may also contain a second clue, one that few would believe.

Labelled an assassin, hunted by Scotland Yard and Dame Imogen Worsely of MI5--as well as those who want the Falcon and its secrets for themselves--Ayesha joins forces with Joram Tate, the mysterious librarian known to her friend Lady Madrigal, a one-time lover of Lawrence of Arabia. As Ayesha’s attraction to Tate grows, they follow clues left by long-dead knights to the tomb of a Saxon king and to the ruined Battle Abbey. When the trail leads them to a stunning secret hidden for a thousand years beneath an English castle, Ayesha must battle modern killers with medieval weapons before confronting the evil that would destroy her nation.

Traitor’s Gate is Nicholas Pengelley’s first novel. An Australian by birth, Nicholas has had a varied career in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom – as a law professor, law librarian, and analyst on Middle East politics, a field about which he is passionate. Nicholas currently works as a consultant on Australasian law. He lives in Toronto with his wife Pamela and blogs at www.nicholaspengelley.com.

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