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Rizzio

A Novella

Published by Pegasus Crime
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

From the multi-award-winning master of crime, Denise Mina delivers a radical new take on one of the darkest episodes in Scottish history—the bloody assassination of David Rizzo private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, in the queen’s chambers in Holyrood Palace.

On the evening of March 9th, 1566, David Rizzio, the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots, was brutally murdered. Dragged from the chamber of the heavily pregnant Mary, Rizzio was stabbed fifty six times by a party of assassins. This breathtakingly tense novella dramatises the events that led up to that night, telling the infamous story as it has never been told before.

A dark tale of sex, secrets and lies, Rizzio looks at a shocking historical murder through a modern lens—and explores the lengths that men and women will go to in their search for love and power.

Rizzio is nothing less than a provocative and thrilling new literary masterpiece.

About The Author

Denise Mina is the New York Times bestselling author of The End of the Wasp Season and Gods and Beasts. Her recent novel Conviction was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. Rizzio is her latest novel published by Pegasus Crime. She is a regular contributor on the subject of crime fiction for television and radio. Denise lives in Glasgow.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Pegasus Crime (September 7, 2021)
  • Length: 144 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781643138466

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Raves and Reviews

Praise for Denise Mina:

"Mina is the cream of the crop, an author who pushes the crime novel in new and exciting directions.”

– Ian Rankin

“Takes readers on a suspenseful tour into the past, through psyches and situations far grimmer than even those sooty Glasgow streets."

– Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

"Mina has always been a close observer of brutality. This one feels painfully real."

– Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

"A terrific exploration of crime and oppression."

– Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"This stand-alone thriller showcases Mina at her best, capturing the nuanced psychological suspense and ethical shadows of her Alex Morrow series as well as the electric dialogue and tangible grit of her Paddy Meehan novels."

– Booklist (starred)

"Outstanding."

– Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Denise Mina may be Britain's finest living crime novelist.”

– The Daily Telegraph

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