Description
Book Synopsis'Historical fiction at its most sumptuous' Rory Clements
'S. J. Parris fans will be pleased' Publishers Weekly
From the bestselling, CWA Historical Dagger Award-nominated author of The Angel's Mark comes a gripping and atmospheric new mystery . . .
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The Elizabethan world is in flux. Radical new ideas are challenging the old. But the quest for knowledge can lead down dangerous paths...
London, 1594. The Queen's physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives.
With agents of the Crown on their tail, they make for Padua, following the ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena. But the pursuing English aren't the only threat Nicholas and Bianca face. Hella, a strange and fervently religious young woman, has joined them on their journey. When the trio finally reach relative safety, they become embroiled in a radical and dangerous scheme to shatter the old world's limits of knowledge. But Hella's dire predictions of an impending apocalypse, and the brutal murder of a friend of Bianca's forces them to wonder: who is this troublingly pious woman? And what does she want?
More praise for S. W. Perry's Jackdaw Mysteries:
'Engaging' Sunday Times
'Beautiful writing' Giles Kristian
'Brilliantly evokes the colours, sights and sounds of the Elizabethan era' Goodreads review
'Gripping, packed with twists and turns!' Goodreads review
'Spellbinding . . . I fell in love with every character' Goodreads review
Trade ReviewA real page-turner. Hell, threat and madness abound in this desperate flight from the dangerous, dark streets of Elizabeth's Protestant London to the vivid heart of Galileo's menacing Catholic Italy. * Minette Walters *
The Heretic's Mark really is the most
thrilling, stimulating and fabulously readable tale. * Liz Robinson, LoveReading, Picks of the month *
Vivid characters and spot-on period details complement the intricate whodunit plot... S.J. Parris fans will be pleased. * Publishers Weekly, starred reviews *
The writing is of such a quality, the characters so engaging and the setting so persuasive that S.W. Perry's ingeniously plotted novels have become
my favourite historical crime series. * S. G. MacLean on The Serpent's Mark *
The third in Perry's series is as dramatic and colourful as the previous two. * Sunday Times, praise for The Saracen's Mark *
An absolute belter of a read and another fabulous addition to the Jackdaw Mysteries series... I just gobbled up the pages as the story fairly roars along battling spies and pirates on route... S. W. Perry ensures the sights, smells and sounds of London and Morocco entered my very being.
I love this series. * Liz Robinson, LoveReading, Picks of the month, praise for The Saracen's Mark *
No-one is better than S. W. Perry at leading us through the squalid streets of London in the sixteenth century. * Andrew Swanston on The Serpent's Mark *
The Serpent's Mark is an excellent evocation of Elizabethan England, with espionage, intricate conspiracies, strange medical practises and a gripping story.
A rattling good read. * William Ryan on The Serpent's Mark *
A
gorgeous book -
rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure. It immerses you in the late 16th century and leaves you wrung out with terror. This is
historical fiction at its most sumptuous. * Rory Clements on The Angel's Mark *
Wonderful! Beautiful writing, and Perry's Elizabethan London is so skilfully evoked, so real that one can almost smell it. * Giles Kristian on The Angel's Mark *
The book is both
educational, and entertaining. There is both a detailed description of times, practices and people that seem strange to our modern sensibilities, but also a very
well-drawn plot that follows seamlessly from the other three books. * NB Magazine *
