England. 1660. King Charles I has been dead for eleven years. England is a republic.

But for how long?

In a country divided by factions after the English Civil War the desires of the most powerful players are deadlier for being concealed.

Meanwhile, amongst the danger and mystery moves the King’s Shadow, the most enigmatic of them all.

Until New Year’s Day 1660, few believe the return from exile of the man who would become Charles II ever will happen. But on this icy morning, an army sets out from Coldstream to march on London. Is it marching to bring back the king?

Mark Denton, colonel of cavalry, is the most rigorous parliamentarian in York and the scourge of royalist conspirators across the North. He must find out what his commander, General George Monck, intends to achieve in London.

Lucinda Selby’s family has been dispossessed by England’s new rulers of their land and home in the Yorkshire Dales – and it is now in the hands of the despised Colonel Denton. Lucinda, in secret revolt against Parliament and its army, allies herself with a brilliant member of the exiled court and goes to London also – with a risky mission on the king’s behalf.

But her life is to change utterly when she discovers the true identity of the King’s Shadow.

The concluding novel in a compelling trilogy by Cheryl Sawyer traces the attempt to restore the monarchy – together with the old guard of courtly attendants – after the creation of the ‘democratic’ Commonwealth by Puritan revolutionaries led by Oliver Cromwell.