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A Season for the Dead (Nic Costa thriller, 1) Paperback – April 7, 2020

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 585 ratings

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THE FIRST IN THE ACCLAIMED NIC COSTA SERIES

"No author has ever brought Rome so alive for me―nor made it seem so sinister"
Peter James

"David Hewson’s Rome is dark and tantalizing, seductive and dangerous, a place where present-day crimes ring with the echoes of history"
Tess Gerritsen

"Hewson keeps the reader guessing . . . relentlessly tightening the suspense until the end"
Daily Telegraph

There’s no rest for the wicked. . .

While Rome is sweltering in the height of summer, a serial killer is on the loose. Sara Farnese is working in the Vatican library, when a man bursts in intent on showing her the contents of his bloodied bag, until a guard shoots him. But why was the man targeting Sara? Determined to find answers, Sara’s path crosses with a young up-and-coming Roman detective, Nic Costa. He’s determined to track down the dangerous killer behind this bizarre and brutal murder and to protect Sara from becoming the next victim . . .
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“No author has ever brought Rome so alive for me―nor made it seem so sinister” PETER JAMES, author of Dead at First Sight

“Hewson does more than provide a thrilling read. He saves you the airfare to Italy. When you turn the last page, you’ll think you’ve been there” LINWOOD BARCLAY, author of No Time for Goodbye

About the Author

David Hewson is a former journalist with The Times, The Sunday Times and the Independent. He is the author of more than twenty-five novels including his Rome-based Nic Costa series which has been published in fifteen languages and the sixth book, The Garden of Evil, was shortlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier crime novel of the year award. He has also written three acclaimed adaptations of the Danish TV series, The Killing.

@david_hewson davidhewson.com

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Thorn; Main edition (April 7, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1838850643
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1838850647
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 585 ratings

About the author

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David Hewson
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David Hewson's novels have been translated into a wide range of languages, from Italian to Japanese, and his debut work, Semana Santa, set in Holy Week Spain, was filmed with Mira Sorvino. His work has embraced Italy, Spain, Denmark and Amsterdam with the Nic Costa series based in Rome, the Pieter Vos books in Amsterdam, his adaptations of The Killing TV series in Copenhagen and, most recently, the Arnold Clover history mysteries in Venice.

David was born in Yorkshire in 1953 and left school at the age of seventeen to work as a cub reporter on one of the smallest evening newspapers in the country in Scarborough. Eight years later he was a staff reporter on The Times in London, covering news, business and latterly working as arts correspondent. He worked on the launch of the Independent and was a weekly columnist for the Sunday Times for a decade before giving up journalism entirely in 2005 to focus on writing fiction.

Semana Santa won the WH Smith Fresh Talent award for one of the best debut novels of the year in 1996 and was later made into a movie starring Mira Sorvino and Olivier Martinez. Four standalone works followed before A Season for the Dead, the first in a series set in Italy. There are now ten Costa titles published in numerous languages around the world including Chinese and Japanese... and Italian.

David followed these books with three acclaimed adaptations of the award-winning Copenhagen TV crime series The Killing. In 2014 he debuted a new series set in Amsterdam with The House of Dolls. With A.J. Hartley he has also authored two popular adaptations of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Hamlet, originally for audio now out in ebook. In 2018 he won the prized Audie for best original audio work for Romeo and Juliet: A Novel, narrated by Richard Armitage, an Audible exclusive.

The Medici Murders saw the start of an acclaimed new series based in Venice featuring the archivist Arnold Clover. Now Arnold's next adventure in Venice, The Borgia Portrait, is available. Both are narrated by Richard Armitage.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
585 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the plot interesting and well-crafted. They describe the book as engaging, with accurate settings and situations in Rome. Readers appreciate the well-developed characters with unique voices and perspectives. Overall, they consider it a great start to a series.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

14 customers mention "Plot quality"11 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the engaging plots and settings of the books. They find the mysteries interesting and the police relationships frustrating. The stories take place in Rome, with real-world situations and fast-paced action. Readers appreciate the quirky characters and interesting details. Overall, the stories are gripping and recommend reading the entire series.

"...book that has very interesting, complex characters, an interesting mystery and an interesting story...." Read more

"...I loved all the detail about Italy and the paintings. It's not a Dan Brown want to be book...." Read more

"Excellent murder mystery. We know who did it fairly early on, but the complexities of how and why maintain interest in the plot...." Read more

"...of the Vatican Bank, but to be realistic, there is just to much baggage in this story...." Read more

11 customers mention "Readability"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging with interesting characters. They describe it as a great start to a series.

"A Season for the Dead is an excellent book, well written and located in Rome (for Rome fans, it is delightful and very accurate)...." Read more

"A well written book that has very interesting, complex characters, an interesting mystery and an interesting story...." Read more

"I enjoyed this book. It wasn't how I thought it would be which is why I liked it...." Read more

"...more than the same of crime drama - mystery - and it'll be worth every page you turn!" Read more

8 customers mention "Character development"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters interesting and well-developed. They appreciate their unique voices and points of view, with a mix of human strengths and weaknesses.

"...The characters are very interesting and quite well rounded and Nic Costa is the type of complex character that immediately makes us like him...." Read more

"A well written book that has very interesting, complex characters, an interesting mystery and an interesting story...." Read more

"...I enjoyed the interplay between all the characters. Wasn't sure how to take some of them or how they were going to fit into the plot...." Read more

"...Their ideas are sophisticated, but the characters express those ideas in direct, understandable language...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2013
    A Season for the Dead is an excellent book, well written and located in Rome (for Rome fans, it is delightful and very accurate). The characters are very interesting and quite well rounded and Nic Costa is the type of complex character that immediately makes us like him. The other characters Falcone (the boss), Rossi (the partner) and Teresa (the coroner) all complement the protagonist. The action is thrilling and I hope to see many more books with the same group.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2024
    A well written book that has very interesting, complex characters, an interesting mystery and an interesting story. The book is also very interesting taking place in Rome, and the author know Rome extremely well, so it's fascinating. I've been to Italy several times, and Rome several times , but I don't know the city at all. I just ordered book two in his Rome series with Nick Costa as the detective: The Villa of Mysteries.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2013
    Perhaps we are talking about Byzantine rites here. This could be described as a roller coaster of a thriller with a few unfortunate stops. This is a story about a serial killer with almost supra-human abilities to avoid detection. An encapsulated version of this thriller is that the killer, a Caravaggio aficionado, is pursued by a young detective who is also (surprise) a Caravaggio expert. If Mr. Hewson had stayed with this theme it would have been rated higher. OK, we know he is really writing about Archbishop Marcinkus and the scandals of the Vatican Bank, but to be realistic, there is just to much baggage in this story. It could certainly have used an editor, a problem that many other reviewers have mentioned about not only this work but others .

    Let me bring up the few areas where I feel the writer has fallen down on the job. The love scenes between Nic Costa and the enigmatic Sara Farnese, heroine, tart, psychotic daughter (looneytoon?) are boring, clinical, cliché-ridden seem to be purely pro forma and only break the rhythm of the book.

    The dialogue between Vic, his Communist, politico, dying father, Vic, Sara and Bea the pining would be paramour of Vic's father are puerile and totally unbelievable. They simply do not resonate with any realism. In fact, all these scenes and dialogue could have been condensed in one or two pages and still be effective.

    The entire premise of the corrupt archbishop and his motives, his Machiavellian aide de camp, Hanrahan is too fantastic. It gets in the way of the ride. OK, this is a few steps above the usual thriller, but the reader should be warned that he should expect to be disappointed at several key points of the story.

    The use of Caravaggio and the theme of Tertullian influence does give the story color, but unfortunately not enough to give this book a hearty endorsement or future ones.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2006
    I enjoyed this book. It wasn't how I thought it would be which is why I liked it. I'm not going to write a plot summary since so many on Amazon have already did that. I enjoyed that you never knew where the twists and turns were going to be in this book. I loved all the detail about Italy and the paintings. It's not a Dan Brown want to be book. If you are looking for codes then you will be disappointed. I enjoyed the interplay between all the characters. Wasn't sure how to take some of them or how they were going to fit into the plot. I enjoyed this first book of the series. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a religious thriller or a mystery.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2014
    Excellent murder mystery. We know who did it fairly early on, but the complexities of how and why maintain interest in the plot. Meanwhile, the characters reflect on the meaning of death--and life--from a variety of theological and philosophical perspectives. Their reflections lead to character evolution over the course of the novel. Their ideas are sophisticated, but the characters express those ideas in direct, understandable language. Each character has a unique voice and point of view, with a mix of human strengths and weaknesses. The action keeps building, too, and the setting in Rome adds to the fascination of this book. The struggle between good and evil in "A Season For The Dead" is not just a struggle between good people and bad people; but rather a struggle between forces that we recognize as a human struggle within ourselves. The world brings good and evil events into our lives, and we respond with our own blend of good and evil traits. David Hewson allows us to identify with heroes and villains alike while they confront extraordinary pressures we rarely experience. He gets the dynamic interaction of good and evil just right.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2014
    This is the second book I've read by David Hewson and whilst I really enjoyed it, it didn't quite have the twists and turns that Lucifer's Shadow did. Loved the historic Roman setting and looking forward to reading the next in the series.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2004
    A serial killer is wandering the sweltering streets of Rome when Nic Costa and Luca Rosta begin their investigation into a series of murders depicting scenes of martydom from various painting - which all seem connected to Professor Sara Faranese; Nic has to discover this connection while being increasily drawn to Sara.
    I found the Italian police both frustrating and intriguing along with the inner workings of the Vatacian and Cardinal Denney's relationship with Sara (which confuses Nic even more for Sara is a very complex and sexually active women.)
    You'll find yourself asking 'why' around every corner as you attempt to figure out this more than interesting, more than run of the mill, more than the same of crime drama - mystery - and it'll be worth every page you turn!
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2006
    This book starts off extremely well, with engaging characters and interesting detail. But then the focus changes, and it
    becomes very dark, briefly sexually explicit, and for the most part, dull.
    If you're looking for a good mystery set in Rome, you might want to try any of those by Elizabeth Peters, Nagaio Marsh, Dan Brown or Ian Pears instead.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Patricia Caron
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Mystery, especially for those who love mystery combined ...
    Reviewed in Canada on July 29, 2015
    Excellent Mystery, especially for those who love mystery combined with history. Can't wait to read the rest of the Series.
  • Miss T
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Dark side of Rome
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2014
    I had already read a Nic Costa mystery which came with a few books that I randomly bought. I was so impressed that I have now started to read them all beginning with this first one. It was not disappointing. The themes are dark and sometimes gruesome, exposing physical and psychological crime, and the at times deeply flawed legal system. This is the side Rome the tourist do not want to see. David Hewson brings it all into sharp focus with imaginative and well written plots, and some very interesting and engaging characters.
    On the cover it says that if you like Donna Leon you will like David Hewson, but for my money David Hewson wins the top prize.
  • Peter
    2.0 out of 5 stars Too much gratuitous violence
    Reviewed in France on August 2, 2013
    For someone who can clearly write well, this book was too sickening to enjoy.

    Doubtless there are many readers who like such things, but I found it seriously interfered with the mystery and intrigue.
  • ほげほげ
    4.0 out of 5 stars 邦題は「死者の季節」
    Reviewed in Japan on July 15, 2007
    ヴァチカン図書館で人間の生皮を手に持ち進入し警備員に射殺された男。男が残した言葉が示す教会に向かうと、そこには凄惨な方法で殺された死体が残されていた。こうして連続殺人の幕が上がった。
    この紹介から想像される猟奇もの、サイコスリラーというよりもというよりは、主人公である刑事の成長物語といった色合いが強いです。
    英語の構文はそれほど複雑ではないのでしょうが、単語のレベルが難しく、また描写そのものが凝っているので読みにくいという印象を受けました。
    しかし、物語自体は独特の雰囲気に魅力があり、シリーズの続巻を読みたいと思います。
  • Pentimenta
    1.0 out of 5 stars Not for me, the next in this series
    Reviewed in Germany on October 17, 2017
    I thought, reading older reviews, that maybe I had discovered a new mystery series to like. Not so. The beginning was OK and held my attention, also because I love Rome, but about the beginning of the last third I was getting seriously bored. Skipped whole paragraphs just to get through with it. There isn't a cliche that was left out. The plot seemed more and more unlikely, the most interesting character had been killed off, hero and especially heroine were staying two dimensional and getting more implausible at the same time, and the author knows absolutely nothing about dogs beyond some insights gleaned from a self-help/mindfulness digest. Someone wrote the second book is better, but I don't think I'll find out. One to two stars.