Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Tudor Secret

  • The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles, Book 1
  • By: C. W. Gortner
  • Narrated by: Steve West
  • Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (658 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Tudor Secret cover art

The Tudor Secret

By: C. W. Gortner
Narrated by: Steve West
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Unquiet Bones cover art
Courting Darkness cover art
Lady at Arms cover art
The Tudor Mystery Trials Box Set cover art
A Conspiracy of Violence cover art
The Scarlet Contessa cover art
Lord Edward's Archer cover art
Dreamspell cover art
Chained cover art
Tudor Warrior cover art
The Unveiling cover art
The King's Justice cover art
A Plague on Both Your Houses cover art
Sherwood cover art
The Executioner of St Paul's cover art
Cephrael's Hand cover art

Summary

The era of the Tudors was one of danger, intrigue, conspiracy, and, above all, spies.

The summer of 1553 is a time of danger and deceit. Brendan Prescott, an orphan, has been reared in the household of the powerful Dudley family. Brought to court, Prescott finds himself sent on an illicit mission to the king’s brilliant but enigmatic sister, Princess Elizabeth. But Brendan is soon compelled to work as a double agent by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil, who promises in exchange to help him unravel the secret of his own mysterious past.

A dark plot swirls around Elizabeth’s quest to discover the truth about the ominous disappearance of her seriously ill brother, King Edward VI. With only a bold stable boy and an audacious lady-in-waiting at his side, Brendan plunges into a ruthless gambit of half-truths, lies, and murder.

Filled with the intrigue and pageantry of Tudor England, The Tudor Secret is the first book in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles.

©2011 C. W. Gortner (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Gortner handles action with aplomb, adding a riveting, fast-paced thriller to the crowded genre of Tudor fiction." ( Publishers Weekly)
"An exciting, vividly rendered story of intrigue and espionage." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about The Tudor Secret

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    394
  • 4 Stars
    169
  • 3 Stars
    67
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    370
  • 4 Stars
    134
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    18
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    361
  • 4 Stars
    143
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Derring do worthy of Rupert of Hentzau!

What did you like best about The Tudor Secret? What did you like least?

I tend to pick up anything to do with the Tudor period and I liked the idea of weaving in the setting up of the Elizabethan network of spies. The fictional nature of the book was apparent from the first. I found the basic premise unconvincing and the speed with which the hero got involved in intrigues and then resolved them seemed in the best style of melodrama. Although the history of the period appeared well-researched, the book lacked for me the Tudor atmosphere of other novelists of the genre.

What will your next listen be?

A more modern spy story! Perhaps Le Carre.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

No

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dreadful narrator

The narration is just awful. Like a sit com. A shame for the writer. Unless it’s him narrating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting

I absolutely love this book!!!! Once you start to listen, you are no longer in modern times.
you are transported back to Tudor times, with its smells, looks, people and buildings.
This author is superb, and the narrator brilliant!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

If only this were true. Intriguing plot line. Beautifully narrated. I couldn’t stop listening. Sat in the sunshine and devoured the whole book over two days.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compulsive, listening

Very enjoyable, listen narration, very good and the story excellent all put together to make a very enjoyable listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed this jolt into history
an intriguing story and well written .
the narrator was excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Absorbing novel marred by narration

I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and it was a treat given I didn’t have to use a credit. I like the historical period and thought the author had invented an interesting main character with an intriguing back story. However the narrator mispronounced so many words which grated and detracted from the novel. I have got the next two instalments as they’re free and shall just have to ignore the undoubted mispronunciations to come. Such a pity as the novels deserve better.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

a good listen

really enjoyed this book and look forward to next in the series, good for anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A fine cast of characters, brought brilliantly to life!

A sparkling ending to a complex & beautifully conceived & written story!
We still don’t discover ‘the secret’, though…so the hope is that there will be a sequel, plus more from a gifted new author!
Thanks to Audible for putting this out — I was riveted & calmed at the same time, by the crystal-clear interpretation:
Thank you!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining yarn

An entertaining yarn based on an historic "what if" woven around real characters with love, lust, violence, vengeance and valour.
Only jat is use of modern words/phrasiology that are totally foreign to the period. Eg pack our gear!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!