"'Better written and more sophisticated than Dan Brown's phenomenal bestseller... great stuff!' Washington Post 'Built with pleasing symmetry... Hewson can dress a stage with operatic panache, and here his mise-en-scene is spectacular... In the previous books the killings, despite their savagery, have theatrical flair and are put to vivid use in fascinating lectures on Italian art and history' New York Times 'Elegant... The novel seems headed for Dan Brown territory, but Hewson's clever puzzle remains just that, a tantalizing challenge... solid writing and multidimensional characters command attention from start to finish of this smart, literate thriller' Publishers Weekly"

David Hewson was born in Yorkshire in 1953. He was a journalist from the age of seventeen, working most recently for The Sunday Times. He has also written several novels, as well as a number of travel books. Following A Season for the Dead, The Villa of Mysteries, The Sacred Cut and The Lizard's Bite, The Seventh Sacrament is the fifth in his Italian crime series featuring Detective Nic Costa. The author lives in Kent.