1
of
1
A Serpent in the Garden
A totally gripping historical crime thriller
Series: William Shakespeare Mysteries
Brief Description
The greatest writer who ever lived… turns spy.London, 1592. 28-year-old William Shakespeare is the rising man of English theatre. But plague has hit the capital, and the playhouses are to be shut. Livelihoods, and lives, are at stake.Lady Celia Vernon is one of the first to...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$3999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
A Serpent in the Garden
$3999
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Latest News
Romance for Spring - Groundbreaking!
Lizzy is sharing her top picks for Spring reads in the romance and romantasy genre...
The ‘Fourth Wing’ graphic novel covers have been revealed
The covers for ‘Fourth Wing, The Graphic Novel: Volume One’ have officially been revealed, with...
Books about Bookshops (across almost every genre)
Books about books, bookshops, and booksellers - it's my favourite thing. Here's a small selection...
What the Book Hero team is excited for
With so many pre-orders coming in the last few months of the year, we asked...
Meet Reverie Puzzles: Puzzles Made for Book Lovers
Reverie Puzzles have arrived at Book Hero and they might just be the perfect puzzles...
See more
Caught between two of the most powerful men in the kingdom, young William Shakespeare must balance his playwriting with his unfamiliar roles as spy and detective for the Crown.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
The greatest writer who ever lived… turns spy.
London, 1592. 28-year-old William Shakespeare is the rising man of English theatre. But plague has hit the capital, and the playhouses are to be shut. Livelihoods, and lives, are at stake.
Lady Celia Vernon is one of the first to perish but did she really die of plague? Her cousin, the Earl of Southampton, orders Will to discover the truth in a London filled with conspirators and traitors, assassins and spies.
The Queen's spymaster, Robert Cecil, suspects the Earl of treason and orders Will to spy on him in return. Caught between two of the most powerful men in the kingdom, Will cannot possibly serve both masters, and could easily become the next victim of the killer he is trying to catch.
With his future, safety and life on the line, Will uncovers a devastating secret, and changes the course of his, and the world’s, destiny forever.
An utterly compelling historical mystery offering a new and fascinating look into the personal life of the great William Shakespeare.
Series: William Shakespeare Mysteries
View all-
Players of Death
A thrilling adventure wonderfully evoked as Shakespeare turns spy — James Oswald Previously published as A Serpent in the Garden Will Shakespeare as a detective is so good you realise he was wasted as a playwright... This clever crime tale blends pace and humour into a riveting, believable and funny read — Sun Pick of the Week London, 1592. At...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
A Serpent in the Garden
The greatest writer who ever lived… turns spy.London, 1592. 28-year-old William Shakespeare is the rising man of English theatre. But plague has hit the capital, and the playhouses are to be shut. Livelihoods, and lives, are at stake.Lady Celia Vernon is one of the first to perish but did she really die of plague? Her cousin, the Earl of Southampton,...Hardback$3999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781804368770
Publisher: Canelo
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 30 January 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Canelo
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 352
About the Author
A former journalist, Howard Linskey’s works include crime series and standalones set in the north-east, including the DC Ian Bradshaw series published by Penguin, and two espionage novels. He also writes historical fiction and non-fiction. His books have been published in nine countries. Originally from County Durham, he lives in Herts with his wife and daughter.
Also by Howard Linskey
View all-
The Chosen Ones
Women are going missing, and only Ian Bradshaw can save them in this gripping race-against-time thriller. Eva Dunbar wakes in a large metal box. She has no idea who has taken her. She has no way out... Eva isn't the first young woman to disappear. Detective Ian Bradshaw, heading up the search, has no leads - and precious little time....Paperback$4500Elsewhere:$5000Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Hunting the Hangman
Hunting the Hangman is based on the extraordinary true story of two men who risked everything in a mission to assassinate SS General Reinhard Heydrich, the Reich's third-in-command after Hitler and Himmler. In 1942, two men – Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik – were trained by the British SOE to parachute into their native Czech territory to kill the man...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Players of Death
A thrilling adventure wonderfully evoked as Shakespeare turns spy — James Oswald Previously published as A Serpent in the Garden Will Shakespeare as a detective is so good you realise he was wasted as a playwright... This clever crime tale blends pace and humour into a riveting, believable and funny read — Sun Pick of the Week London, 1592. At...Paperback$2599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Search
A killer with a secret to tell . . . Little Susan Verity went missing during the heatwave of 1976. An unprecedented amount of police resources went into finding her, but to no avail. Until now. Serial killer Adrian Wicklow was always the prime suspect. He's lied to the police about Susan's whereabouts repeatedly, but this time, he says, he'll...PaperbackSold Out
More from Crime & Thriller
View all-
New ReleaseDying Days
Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating. In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite. May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinNew ReleaseThe Country Road Murders
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding thriller about justice, vengeance and the roads that lead us home. No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades — LEE CHILD Cross Rivers is the kind of small town where everyone knows your name – and your secrets. Silas Tucker...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseEvery Lake
Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New Release
Nautilus
The follow-up to the bestselling novel The Turing Protocol. Nautilus is a machine with the astonishing power to send messages eight weeks back in time. Its users must follow a set of protocols established by its inventor, Alan Turing, including that it can only be used by a descendant of his family, and only to avert global disasters. But what...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New Release
Cold River
The sensational new novel from the author of the bestselling thriller, The Creeper, winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction 2025. Deep in the mountains, secrets grow deadly... Detective Constable Sally White knows how easily hikers can go missing in Victoria's high country. But there's something about the disappearance of Louis Taylor, a young man lost up...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinNew ReleaseIt Could Have Been Her
PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: The no. 1 Sunday Times and MULTI-million-copy bestselling author is back with a brand-new spine tingling thriller. It was the night she almost died. Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to Win26 Beauties
The twenty-sixth thrilling novel in the globally bestselling Women's Murder Club series. Beautiful young women are disappearing by the dozen. A celebration is cut short when a concerned father crashes Detective Inspector Lindsay Boxer's party. His daughter is missing - and she's not the only one. DI Lindsay Boxer has been tracking a chilling pattern: a Jane Doe washed ashore,...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New Release
The Secrets We Hide
The stunning new North Falls thriller by the bestselling author of We Are All Guilty Here 'Quite simply, Karin Slaughter is the best of us' Dervla McTiernan Welcome back to North Falls -- a small town with big secrets. The house at 1601 Iris Drive looks like any other in the quiet, residential street. But rumours are rife about the Vickery...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinThe Parkwood Murders
They came for an escape, but can they escape a killer? Detective Nicola Bridge returns in another gripping and immersive mystery For its loyal guests, Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a haven- woodland walks, a tranquil lake, service around the clock. Until, just after midsummer, a body is found floating in the swimming pool. Detective Nicola Bridge, exhausted...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips mid September -
13% offHope Rises
'BALDACCI IS STILL PEERLESS' - THE SUNDAY TIMES REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD . . . Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him....Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Slash
A year after a brutal shootout left her lover dead, ex-police sergeant Honey Chalmers is a hot mess, drinking too much and eating too little, working casual gigs for a shady firm of private investigators — while holding conversations with a ghost. A desperate father asks her to investigate his missing son — a double-murder suspect last seen during the...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
A River Red With Blood
The players call it the Game, and its aim is simple: to abduct and kill a stranger without getting caught. They're very good at it. They've been playing it for a long time. And they can keep playing as long as everyone sticks to the rules: No Killing Close to Home and No Killing Outside the Game. But those rules...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
Crime & Thriller lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
