The Dead of Winter: Three gripping Tudor historical crime thriller novellas from a No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling fiction author, perfect for Christmas: Three Giordano Bruno Novellas

I'm a big fan of Bruno. I've enjoyed the entire series.

liked the shorter content, fragment of story, two more to read when time permits.

Having read three of SJ Parris’s Giardano Bruno full length novels and the others on my “To Read” shelf, I am a confirmed Parris enthusiast. Set against clear and well-known history, she interweaves her mystery stories to create a vibrant world. Making the warp history and the weft her mysteries, allows her great freedom to develop her rich stories, revealing some of her personal thoughts and perspectives on history.The novels are always lengthy. I read physical texts, i.e. hard or soft cover books. The presence in the hand makes me more aware of their length and the literal act of “page turning”.The novella’s attracted my eye while searching for more books by Parris (pseudonym); an around ninety pages, they are a quick read but no less captivating, gripping or thought-provoking. In many ways, these three novellas are the backdrop to Bruno’s early life.NO SPOILERS“The Secret Dead”“The Academy of Secrets”“A Winter Requiem”The first story, “The Secret Dead”, is set in Naples in Bruno’s noviate monastery, relates a shocking tale and its ramifications for the monastery and its inhabitants. Written after the novels, it also paints their backdrop, providing clear insights into Bruno’s early life and his scientific and personal development within the Dominicans.The second story, “The Academy of Secrets”, also set around Naples, is another insight into Bruno’s early life, those who influences him and (according to Parris) approaches to living within a religious community. Bruno discovers there are others who recognise his many intellectual talents and are also searching for ways to explain the world in which they live.The third and final story, “A Winter Requiem” again takes readers into Bruno’s early life (aged around twenty-one) but this time into places in which his intellectual abilities and his willingness to use them are not so much appreciated as seen as a possible threat. He striving after knowledge is noticed by the Inquisition, not the Italian but the Spanish, a much harder and stricter approach.The three short stories, novellas, reward readers with insights into Bruno’s character, what had helped to mould him and why he is on the run in the larger novels.. All three show Parris’s great skill as an historian, detective writer and a potential unraveller of a few of life’s curiosities.Whatever the readers’ views, the short time needed to read them will be rewarding and, as usual, rapid page turning. It is not necessary to read Parris’s novels in order, but it helps, as each builds on the others and refers back. I read the novellas after the third lengthy novel, enjoyed them for what they are but also for Bruno’s history.Recommended.PS I advise reading the Bruno novels in order; while not essential, each occasionally refers to previous events and knowing earlier events and characters helps.

Quite well written, but slightly inconclusive.

Excellent. Same themes as in the novels, an insight his development.

This book has 3, good length, novella's inside. If you have not yet come across the excellent Novels by the author S.J.Paris about her character Giordano Bruno, this is a good place to start. They are effectively prequels to her novels and show Bruno's talents and flair for getting himself in trouble with the Catholic Church and various important individuals and events in 16th century Europe.Well worth a look at this book and others in the series

She brings the past to life with intriguingly evocative content that takes you right there to the time and place, making you a silent observer to the action and drama as it unfolds. Marvellously spellbinding writing. Bruno is a fantastically believable character creation and you grow to love the way he tackles danger and deceit with his dramatic flair for cognitive computation. In other words, he carefully sifts the evidence and combines the clues which, you the reader, may not have spotted, to solve the puzzle. That said, he doesn’t always get it right, or come out on top, but every time you feel genuinely uplifted and so much the richer for having enjoyed a romp with a medieval superhero. The entire Bruno series is simply marvellous writing and I cannot recommend them highly or often enough!!

I am a great fan of this author and have bought her longer novels with Bruno Gordiano as the put upon hero investigator. These novellas are perfect for an afternoon read with a decent cup of coffee, possibly with a biscuit or three. They are written from Gordiano’s youth and cover three situations when he was a young but inquisitive monk. Parris is an incisive writer as you would expect from her profession as a journalist. I liked these very much. A perfect antidote to a very wet afternoon or when hiding from the sun.

These three novellas serve to inform the reader of the early life and times of Bruno, his loves, desires, and his professional investigations.I found them very helpful in understanding the man we meet in the first novel, Heresy. While not strictly necessary to get into the novels they provide the colour to the man we meet and explain some of the references in the novels that are easily glossed over but knowing the backstory adds depth to the plot.Good reads, easy to get into and insert yourself in the storyline.

I made the mistake of buying both this and The Secret Dead, so one third of this book is one that I bought with it. This information was not available when I made the purchase. Nice writing but VERY disappointed in the deceptive marking by this author/publisher.

Couldn't get past first few chapters. Had medieval views about the Catholic church and how it was being used.