In 1583, Giordano Bruno was a principal agent of Francis Walsingham, but his time as a novice monk in a monastery in Naples, events took place that shaped the man who he would become.

In the summer of 1556, Bruno is involved in a dead girl found in the grounds of the monastery. In the autumn of 1568, Bruno is invited into a secret society of philosophers, only for events to end in murder. And in the winter of 1569, a summons by the Pope to demonstrate his memory skills leads to… yes, death. And the last novella is a bit Christmassy…

After finally returning to Marsali Taylor’s work after over a decade, I thought it was time to revisit other neglected authors so when I stumbled upon the Christmas collection of novellas, it seemed ideal. I really enjoyed Heresy, the first in the series.

Maybe I should have read Prophecy, the second novel, instead.

Let’s skip over the Christmas implication of the title – the first two novellas, if you read the blurb, clearly have nothing to do with winter or Christmas. The last one isn’t that Christmassy either, really, but there is a festive feast. That’s something.

The problem is the stories. Again, the blurb doesn’t say “mystery”, despite Heresy being one. I wonder if some of these set up things for later in the series of novels, so despite being prequels, I ought to have read more of the series first.

No, the problem is the fact that each book is a series of events that leads to a death. The first one has a bit of a twist in it, but structurally, Bruno is someone who things seem to happen to, rather than him being the instigator in anything. And despite the superbly detailed historical setting, without an established connection to the lead character, the stories just left me a bit cold. The opener is by far the strongest of the three, but if you’re interested in the series, I strongly recommend the excellent Heresy instead.