Dead of Winter

No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller S. J. Parris is the pseudonym of the author and journalist Stephanie Merritt. It was as a student at Cambridge researching a paper on the period that Stephanie first became fascinated by the rich history of Tudor England and Renaissance Europe. Since then, her interest has grown and led her to create this series of historical thrillers featuring Giordano Bruno.Stephanie has worked as a critic and feature writer for a variety of newspapers and magazines, as well as radio and television. She has also written the contemporary psychological thriller While You Sleep under her own name. She currently writes for the Observer and the Guardian, and lives in Surrey with her son.

‘S. J. Parris gives us a glimpse into the younger years of Giordano Bruno, her 16th-century heretic and spy, in this collection of three beguiling novellas’ Observer‘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. This is an accessible entry point for newcomers’ Publishers Weekly (starred)Praise for S. J. Parris:‘A delicious blend of history and thriller’ The Times‘A tight plot combines with subtly-realised characters and an omnipresent sense of danger … My pleasure in the vividly textured backdrop and a cracking story was accompanied by an uneasy shudder’ 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‘S. J. Parris is one of my favourite authors – and unquestionably our greatest living writer of historical thrillers’ A.J. Finn‘Vivid, sprawling … Well-crafted, exuberant’ Financial Times‘Successful historical thrillers need three elements: a killer plot that weaves seamlessly into the history; an engaging protagonist; and an atmospheric sense of place. Parris nails all three’ The Times‘Pacy, intricate, and thrilling… Full of historical detail and rich with atmosphere’ Observer‘I can thoroughly recommend Conspiracy, which twists and turns like a corkscrew of venomous snakes’ Stuart MacBride‘Parris’s Giordano Bruno series has been a joy’ Sunday Telegraph‘Impossible to resist … Parris creates a convincing sense of the past, woven with so much intrigue that the head fairly spins’ Daily Telegraph‘It has everything – intrigue, mystery and excellent history’ Kate MosseA classy mystery’ Observer‘Superbly plotted, shimmeringly written, it will have you on the edge of your seat’ Kate Williams, author of The Storms of War