Call it nostalgia for stumbling across a couple of S. J. Parris’ “Giordano Bruno” historical thriller/detective novels in a charity shop in Petersfield in summer 2018, but I was eager to read another one of these books. I’d originally planned to buy “Treachery” (2014), due to its gloriously melodramatic title and cover art… but it was over 500 pages long and, given that I don’t really binge-read these days, I didn’t know whether I’d finish it. So, imagine my delight when I saw that there were novellas too 🙂
If you haven’t heard of S. J. Parris before, the best way I can describe her “Giordano Bruno” novels are that they are a bit like C. J. Sansom’s “Shardlake” detective novels, but faster-paced and more dramatic 🙂 They mostly focus on a fictionalised version of a real historical person – eventually executed by the church for heresy – during the years (1583-85) when he lived in England.
And, yes, I ended up buying a second-hand ex-library hardback of Parris’ 2020 novella collection “The Secret Dead” and had planned to read all three stand-alone prequel novellas. But I’m only reviewing the excellent 2014 novella “The Secret Dead” – which is also the only one available as a stand-alone paperback – here. This is because, whilst the second novella in the collection (“The Academy Of Secrets” from 2020) is really well-written, I personally found the exact types of suspense used in it to be more stressful than thrilling and this made me slow down my reading even further. So, reluctantly, I decided to “DNF” and read something else. But the first novella absolutely rules 🙂
So, let’s take a look at “The Secret Dead”. This review may contain SPOILERS.
This is the 2020 HarperCollins (UK) hardback edition of “The Dead Of Winter” which contained the copy of “The Secret Dead” (2014) that I’m reviewing here.
Set in mid-16th Century Naples, “The Secret Dead” focuses on a monk in his late teens called Giordano Bruno who has been sent to the monastery to avoid bringing dishonour to his family. Luckily, he is able to find a job with the monastery’s doctor – Gennaro – who is as inquisitive and free-thinking as he is. And, after hearing suspicious noises outside one night, Bruno discovers Gennaro sneaking around.
Gennaro swears him to secrecy and they both sneak into one of the monastery’s storerooms. The dead body which has been placed there, a local woman, shows clear signs of foul play. Gennaro is more interested in performing a scientific dissection of the body, but Bruno wants to find the killer…
One of the first things that I will say about this novella is that it is excellent 🙂 It remains consistently atmospheric and compelling throughout 🙂 The historical setting is richly-detailed, the characters are well-written and it’s also fascinating to see Bruno’s very first case as well 🙂 And, like a Caravaggio painting, this is also a fairly dark and melodramatic story which never gets boring 🙂
Whether it is the gruesome secret dissection, the rowdy local tavern or the fact that, whilst the killer’s identity doesn’t remain a mystery for too long, Bruno still needs to find some way to prove that the person in question was responsible, there’s always something interesting, shocking, atmospheric or dramatic happening in this slender “quality over quantity” novella 🙂
Another cool thing about this novella is that, despite being set in 16th century Italy, it has the mood of an old-school hardboiled pulp crime novel 🙂 Far from being a neat, traditional crime story, this is one of those stories where – although justice is eventually carried out – it happens in a fairly messy and morally-ambiguous way. All of this is paired with the suspense – thankfully kept within bearable levels – of Bruno having to investigate without raising the suspicions of his fellow monks… or the inquisition.
And the atmosphere 🙂 Even just reading the first couple of pages reminded me why I read so much historical fiction back in 2018-19. Despite being set in an austere monastery, there are enough glimpses of the surrounding city to really add something to this story 🙂 It feels like a sumptuous HBO mini-series mixed with an old Caravaggio painting in the best possible way 🙂 You really get a sense of the mood and culture of the place in a surprisingly short amount of time.
The writing and characters are as excellent as ever, and Parris’ choice to use first-person perspective helps to keep everything focused as well. The novella’s fictionalised version of Giordano Bruno is the same character you know and love from the full-length novels, but slightly younger and less experienced. It’s his first case and, being a monk, he doesn’t always have the resources or freedom that he does in the novels, so there’s a bit more tension in the story as well.
As for length, at an efficient 57 pages long in the “The Dead Of Winter” hardback collection and – looking online – 76 pages as a stand-alone paperback. Not a page is wasted here and it genuinely feels like the sort of story which some writers would have padded out into a novel. So, I’m glad that Parris took the “Quality over quantity” option here 🙂 Seriously, if you’re new to S.J.Parris, then this short book is possibly a good starting place.
All in all, this is an absolutely stellar novella – as dark as a Caravaggio painting, as sumptuous as a HBO mini-series – with a morally-ambiguous detective-thriller story which remains gripping throughout 🙂 Although, in retrospect, I should have bought the stand-alone edition, I don’t regret getting the collection because this one novella is that good 🙂
If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a solid five. Read it!
