December 15, 2020
This collection of three absorbing novellas follows the five novels of Parris' brilliant Giordano Bruno series, and details the earlier life of the young priest in sixteenth-century Italy, before he fled his homeland and the Inquisition and found himself working as a master spy for Elizabeth I. During the sweltering Naples summer of 1566 (a "simmering human soup"), Bruno assists his mentor, Fra Gennaro, in an illicit autopsy performed on the body of a young woman whose murder leads him to seek justice for her family. Bruno is revealed to be the most promising student his monastery has ever had, although already questioning the authority of the Catholic Church and the excesses of the Inquisition. Subsequently, he is embraced by a secret society of philosophers and scholars and finds that keeping their heretical secrets places him in grave danger. And, in the final tale, Bruno is summoned by the pope himself to display his unusual talents for memorization and recitation and barely escapes Rome alive. In two days, he faces accusations of rape by a cardinal's sister and of witchcraft by the pontiff and kills a man in a duel. The cracks in his faith widen into chasms. This is historical mystery at its absolute strongest, and quite possibly the best prequel ever in crime fiction.
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Starred review from October 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.