'Historical fiction at its most sumptuous' Rory Clements

'S. J. Parris fans will be pleased' Publishers Weekly

-----------------------------------------------------



The quest for knowledge can lead down dangerous paths...

London, 1594. The Queen's physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives.



With agents of the Crown on their tail, they make for Padua, following the ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena. But the pursuing English aren't the only threat Nicholas and Bianca face. Hella, a strange and fervently religious young woman, has joined them on their journey.



When the trio finally reach relative safety, they become embroiled in a radical and dangerous scheme to shatter the old world's limits of knowledge. But Hella's dire predictions of an impending apocalypse, and the brutal murder of a friend of Bianca's force them to wonder: who is this troublingly pious woman? And what does she want?

Paise for S. W. Perry's Jackdaw Mysteries:

'Engaging' Sunday Times

'Beautiful writing' Giles Kristian

'Brilliantly evokes the colours, sights and sounds of the Elizabethan era' Goodreads review

'Gripping, packed with twists and turns!' Goodreads review

'Spellbinding . . . I fell in love with every character' Goodreads review



READERS ARE ALL-IN ON THE HERETIC'S MARK

'Fabulous read' *****

'Immersive reading experience' *****

'Unputdownable' *****

'The Elizabethan period is brought to life' *****

'I love the mixture of history and fiction' *****



S. W. Perry was a journalist and broadcaster before retraining as an airline pilot. His debut novel, The Angel's Mark, was listed for the CWA Historical Dagger and was a Walter Scott Prize Academy Recommended Read 2019. He lives in Worcestershire with his wife.



A real page-turner. Hell, threat and madness abound in this desperate flight from the dangerous, dark streets of Elizabeth's Protestant London to the vivid heart of Galileo's menacing Catholic Italy.



The Heretic's Mark really is the most thrilling, stimulating and fabulously readable tale.



Vivid characters and spot-on period details complement the intricate whodunit plot... S.J. Parris fans will be pleased.



The writing is of such a quality, the characters so engaging and the setting so persuasive that S.W. Perry's ingeniously plotted novels have become my favourite historical crime series.



The third in Perry's series is as dramatic and colourful as the previous two.



No-one is better than S. W. Perry at leading us through the squalid streets of London in the sixteenth century.



The Serpent's Mark is an excellent evocation of Elizabethan England, with espionage, intricate conspiracies, strange medical practises and a gripping story. A rattling good read.



A gorgeous book - rich, intelligent and dark in equal measure. It immerses you in the late 16th century and leaves you wrung out with terror. This is historical fiction at its most sumptuous.



Wonderful! Beautiful writing, and Perry's Elizabethan London is so skilfully evoked, so real that one can almost smell it.



The book is both educational, and entertaining. There is both a detailed description of times, practices and people that seem strange to our modern sensibilities, but also a very well-drawn plot that follows seamlessly from the other three books.