At the heart of the Eternal City, danger hides around every corner…

Rome, 1569. When novice monk Giordano Bruno is told the pope wants to see him, his first thought is that it must be a joke. The second is that it must be a trap.

Young Bruno’s talent for complex memory games has caught the attention of the Lord’s Vicar. Summoned to Rome, the city captures Bruno’s imagination, and he soon slips away from his suspicious, austere host Fra Agostino da Montalcino, drawn instead to more glamorous, sophisticated companions.

But accusations of heresy are only ever a whisper away, and Rome is a city of intrigue, trickery and blood. Bruno soon realises he will be lucky to escape the Eternal City alive.

Please note that this story, along with two other Giordano Bruno novellas, will be published as a 3-in-1 collection called The Dead of Winter, coming out in Hardback, ebook and audio in November 2020.

‘A delicious blend of history and thriller’ The Times

‘An omnipresent sense of danger’ Daily Mail

‘Colourful characters, fast-moving plots and a world where one false step in religion or politics can mean a grisly death’ Sunday Times

‘Pacy, intricate, and thrilling… Full of historical detail and rich with atmosphere’ Observer

‘Twists and turns like a corkscrew of venomous snakes’ Stuart MacBride

‘Impossible to resist’ Daily Telegraph

‘It has everything – intrigue, mystery and excellent history’ Kate Mosse

‘Parris writes with confident ease of Tudor London’ The Times

‘Full of surprises’ TLS