Al Crosetti and Caroline Rolley, who work part-time restoring rare antique books, discover letters from 1642 under the binding of a rarity book, written by the hand of a certain Richard Bracegirdle, a man hired to keep an eye on Shakespeare. The deciphering of the letters turns into a real sensation - they report the existence of the original manuscript of an unknown play by the great Bard about Mary Stuart. Professor Bulstrode, a specialist Shakespeare scholar involved in the search for a precious manuscript, is found dead in a hotel room in New York, and then the lawyer he hired, the son of a New York gangster, goes hunting for the treasure... Michael Gruber is one of the most unusual and talented authors in the world. modern American literature. His books are not just exciting thrillers, they are also examples of style, so each new novel by the writer becomes a cultural event.