September 2015 Debut of the Month.
Talent runs in the blood as the granddaughter of John Le Carre makes her debut with this sprawling and fascinating historical thriller, the first in a planned trilogy. Her uncle is of course Nick Harkaway and she displays the same sense of wide screen baroque and wild imagination in a winding tale that unfolds over two separate periods in Barcelona.
With echoes of both Dan Brown and Carlos Ruiz Zafon, we find gory murders, mysteries galore, conspiracies, cryptic alphabets and volumes, and bibliomania crowding the pages as book hunter extraordinaire Anna Verco chases down a famous unsolved murder in parallel with the enquiries of Inspector Fabregat, eleven years earlier. Complex, assured, this is a masterful page-turner and a great read. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
An ancient manuscript, an unsolved murder, a burnt chapel and, caught in the middle, a clever young woman unready for the mysteries that await her are all the hallmarks of a great conspiracy thriller but this is no easy-read Dan Brown. Complex and intriguing, the story travels to different times and places weaving a dense web of mystery. It is the first in a trilogy so we can expect more complicated and exciting situations to come. Not for the faint-hearted or those seeking a quick thrill, this is properly a grown-up literary mystery and nicely enthralling to boot. Good stuff.
Barcelona, Summer 2003. Three women are sacrificed to an unknown purpose, skin carved with a cryptic alphabet, tongues cut from their mouths. Sent beautiful, sinister letters - clues, or confessions? - Inspector Fabregat cannot decipher the warnings within.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
Win a Pair of Tickets to Agatha Christie’s The Hollow at a Venue of Your Choice.
Closing date: 15/10/2026
the best psychological thrillers · the best thriller audiobooks
Barcelona, Summer 2003. Three women are sacrificed to an unknown purpose, skin carved with a cryptic alphabet, tongues cut from their mouths.
The Serpent Papers features in the following genres: Thriller and Suspense, eBooks of the Month, Debut Books of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
The Serpent Papers was written by Jessica Cornwell and published by Quercus Publishing
The Serpent Papers has 479 pages
Yes it is part of The Serpent Papers Trilogy series
