The Magus of Sicily: A gripping thriller set on Italy's most beautiful island
Philip Gwynne Jones
Jul 2025 · Little, Brown Book Group
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infoThis book will become available on July 3, 2025. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this audiobook
Discover the first mystery in your new favourite crime series set on Italy's most beautiful island: Sicily. A gripping and atmospheric page-turner, perfect for fans of Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.
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An island of myth, legend . . . and murder?
As the summer sun beats down on the ancient town of Acitrezza, a folk festival plays out in the picturesque harbour. Music, laughter and the aroma of local delicacies fill the air, and a traditional pantomime draws a crowd.
For rookie journalist Nedda Leonardi, it's just another day's reporting in a calendar of unremarkable events. Until that is, the performers dive in the sparkling Ionian Sea for their finale... and emerge with a corpse. Could this be Nedda's big break?
After one trick too many, Calogero Maugeri, self-styled Magus and con artist, is a wanted man. But his attempts to clean up his act and keep a low profile are thwarted when it's revealed he has a suspicious connection to the dead man pulled from the sea.
A young reporter keen for a scoop and a reformed swindler desperate to clear his name... can this improbable pair solve the most unusual of murders?
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Praise for Philip Gwynne Jones:
'I devoured all Philip's novels and felt transported to Venice with a new intimacy' Val McDermid
'Clever and great fun' The Times
'An irresistible concoction of crime and culture' Daily Mail
'As delightful as a Spritz by the Rialto - a must for all Italy lovers' David Hewson
'Superb - always gripping, beautifully constructed and vivid' Stephen Glover
'Sinister and shimmering' L.S. Hilton, bestselling author of Maestra
'Vividly described' Literary Review
'The lively, colourful narrative scuds along as briskly as a water taxi...you'll enjoy the ride' Italia Magazine
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An island of myth, legend . . . and murder?
As the summer sun beats down on the ancient town of Acitrezza, a folk festival plays out in the picturesque harbour. Music, laughter and the aroma of local delicacies fill the air, and a traditional pantomime draws a crowd.
For rookie journalist Nedda Leonardi, it's just another day's reporting in a calendar of unremarkable events. Until that is, the performers dive in the sparkling Ionian Sea for their finale... and emerge with a corpse. Could this be Nedda's big break?
After one trick too many, Calogero Maugeri, self-styled Magus and con artist, is a wanted man. But his attempts to clean up his act and keep a low profile are thwarted when it's revealed he has a suspicious connection to the dead man pulled from the sea.
A young reporter keen for a scoop and a reformed swindler desperate to clear his name... can this improbable pair solve the most unusual of murders?
------------
Praise for Philip Gwynne Jones:
'I devoured all Philip's novels and felt transported to Venice with a new intimacy' Val McDermid
'Clever and great fun' The Times
'An irresistible concoction of crime and culture' Daily Mail
'As delightful as a Spritz by the Rialto - a must for all Italy lovers' David Hewson
'Superb - always gripping, beautifully constructed and vivid' Stephen Glover
'Sinister and shimmering' L.S. Hilton, bestselling author of Maestra
'Vividly described' Literary Review
'The lively, colourful narrative scuds along as briskly as a water taxi...you'll enjoy the ride' Italia Magazine
About the author
Philip Gwynne Jones was born in South Wales in 1966, and lived and worked throughout Europe before settling in Scotland in the 1990s. He first came to Italy in 1994, when he spent some time working for the European Space Agency in Frascati, a job that proved to be less exciting than he had imagined.
He spent twenty years in the IT industry before realising he was congenitally unsuited to it. Furthermore, an attempt to find a secure, well-paid job with a proper pension had resulted in him finding himself in the IT department of a large Scottish bank during the global financial crisis.
Something, clearly, had to change. And so it was that - following a conversation with a man in a pub - Philip and Caroline left their jobs, sold their flat and moved to Venice in search of a better, simpler future. They were wrong about the 'simpler' bit . . .
Philip now works as a teacher, writer and translator, and lives in Venice with Caroline. He enjoys cooking, art, classical music and opera; and can occasionally be seen and heard singing bass with Cantori Veneziani and the Ensemble Vocale di Venezia.
He spent twenty years in the IT industry before realising he was congenitally unsuited to it. Furthermore, an attempt to find a secure, well-paid job with a proper pension had resulted in him finding himself in the IT department of a large Scottish bank during the global financial crisis.
Something, clearly, had to change. And so it was that - following a conversation with a man in a pub - Philip and Caroline left their jobs, sold their flat and moved to Venice in search of a better, simpler future. They were wrong about the 'simpler' bit . . .
Philip now works as a teacher, writer and translator, and lives in Venice with Caroline. He enjoys cooking, art, classical music and opera; and can occasionally be seen and heard singing bass with Cantori Veneziani and the Ensemble Vocale di Venezia.
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