The Book of Secrets

Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Crime Novel of the Year Award 2025! The thrilling and unputdownable new novel from bestselling author of The Clockwork Girl, Anna Mazzola! ‘Vividly alive with menace, magic, and mystery‘ ESSIE FOX ‘A vivid and atmospheric historical adventure‘ DAILY MAIL ‘A writer of great variety and inventiveness. A haunting, complex work‘ THE TIMES Rome, 1659. Some secrets are worth dying for... Girolama Spana lives west of the river Tiber in a house marked by a and a garden full of herbs. Many women in Rome seek her help - although they would never admit it - eager for her mysterious balms, her love potions, and her ability to predict their futures. Even against the splendour of the Eternal City, Giroloma‘s secret recipes are the women‘s most precious possessions - and their husbands‘ most feared. So when men are reported dying in unnatural numbers, the gaze of Stefano Bracchi, prosecutor for the papal authorities, falls quickly on Girolama and her suspected sorcery. Soon she will face the greatest danger she has ever known - but Girolama has always vowed that in life there are secrets we write down, secrets we pass on, and some that we carry to our deaths... The Book of Secrets is inspired by real events that took place in 17th century Italy. Praise for The Book of Secrets: ‘Exceptional. Anna Mazzola‘s finest work yet‘ ELODIE HARPER ‘Dark, viscerally-atmospheric and richly-imagined‘ TAMMY COHEN ‘Utterly compelling, brilliant and rage-inducing‘ CAROLINE LEA ‘This gripping novel blends a colourful historical setting with the pace of a crime thriller‘ WOMAN‘S WEEKLY ‘Deeply unsettling in all the best ways. Absolutely loved it!‘ JAMES OSWALD ‘Compelling and brilliantly atmospheric‘ ANDREW TAYLOR ‘Rich and satisfying... another superb historical thriller from Anna Mazzola‘ CAROLINE GREEN ‘A hugely entertaining read but also an important one in an era when women‘s rights are being called into question. Magnificent‘ LIZ NUGENT ‘A fascinating, evocative, darkly beautiful story. A compelling tale of female strength & ancient knowledge‘ HELEN FIELDS ‘A powerful, perceptive page turner. Feminist historical fiction that is chillingly timely. Bravo!‘ D V BISHOP ‘I couldn‘t put it down. A spectacular insight into life for women in 17th century Rome. I adored it‘ JULIE OWEN-MOYLAN ‘A tense and pacy historical thriller that fans of Robert Harris will love. I inhaled this book‘ TARIQ ASHKANANI ‘Elegant and compelling writing from an author at the peak of her powers‘ AJ WEST ‘A compulsive deep-thinking read, with a message for modern times‘ CATE QUINN ‘Passages so lyrical I read them twice. Compelling and poignant. Stunning‘ RACHEL WOLF ‘Captivating, haunting and so beautifully wrought‘ FREYA BERRY ‘Meticulously researched, beautifully constructed and jam-packed with tension!‘ REBECCA NETLEY