The Dead of Winter: Three Giordano Bruno Novellas

by S. J. Parris

Overview

Three exhilarating novellas—The Secret Dead, The Academy of Secrets, and The Dead of Winter—following the early adventures of young priest Giordano Bruno in the dramatic days of sixteenth century Italy.

Even the dead have a story to tell . . .

Naples, 1566. During a sweltering summer, eighteen-year-old Giordano Bruno takes his final vows at San Domenico Maggiore and is admitted to the Dominican Order—despite doubts over his tendency to ask difficult questions.

Assisting in the infirmary, Bruno witnesses an illicit autopsy performed on the body of a young woman. Her corpse reveals a dark secret, and Bruno suspects that hers may not have been an accidental death.

His investigation leads him to a powerful figure who wants to keep the truth buried—and Bruno is forced to make a choice between his future in the Order, and justice for an innocent victim and her grieving family . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643136547
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Series:	Giordano Bruno Thriller Series
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	415,744
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

S. J. Parris is the pseudonym of Stephanie Merritt. Since graduating from Cambridge, she has worked as a critic for a variety of newspapers and magazines as well as for radio and television. She currently writes for the Guardian in London and is the author of five novels in the Giordano Bruno mystery series. Visit S. J. Parris at www.sjparris.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/19/2020

Fans of Parris’s superior mysteries featuring cleric-turned-sleuth Giordano Bruno, seen most recently in Conspiracy, will be delighted by this stellar collection of three novellas from his early years. In “The Secret Dead,” set in 1566 Naples, 18-year-old Bruno has just taken holy orders as a Dominican. After a church official invites him to witness a forbidden autopsy of an unknown pregnant woman who was strangled, Bruno pursues the truth and some form of justice for the forgotten victim. He also tackles whodunits in “The Academy of Secrets,” set in 1568, and “A Christmas Requiem,” set in 1569 Rome; in the latter Bruno finds himself at odds with the church hierarchy, setting up the relationship with it highlighted in the novels. Bruno’s social commentary is a plus; he views Naples as “a city stinking of hypocrisy: kissing in public was illegal, but courtesans were permitted to walk the streets openly, looking for business even in the churches (especially in the churches).” This is an accessible entry point for newcomers. Agent: Deborah Schneider, ICM Partners. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

With its twisting plot and vivid scene-setting, Treachery confirms Parris’s growing reputation as a writer of historical thrillers."

The Sunday Times (London)

"This is historical mystery at its absolute strongest, and quite possibly the best prequel ever in crime fiction."

Booklist (starred)

A masterful work that deserves a place on all public-library historical-fiction shelves, and that should be recommended to Phillipa Gregory fans."

Starred Review Booklist

One of my favorite authors, and she is unquestionably our greatest living writer of historical thrillers. Few novelists inhabit a setting—any setting—with such confidence and command; fewer still devise plots of such cunning and craft. If Hilary Mantel, John Le Carré, and Michael Connelly were to join forces, they might gift us with a novel as atmospheric, intelligent, and addictive as any of Parris’s books featuring monk-turned-spy Giordano Bruno.

A. J. Finn

Praise for the Giordano Bruno thrillers:

From the Publisher

A masterful work that deserves a place on all public-library historical-fiction shelves, and that should be recommended to Phillipa Gregory fans."

Booklist