The Vipers
Published on 26. March 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-80499-402-3 (ISBN)
Description
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
THE SENSATIONAL NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE CLOISTERS
The story of an hugely wealthy family whose annual retreat to Italy is shattered when a decades-old murder resurfaces and exposes a nestful of lies and betrayals. Here is an unsettling, electrifying thriller for all who loved Succession and The White Lotus . . .
On the glittering island of Capri, anything can be a mirage. But one thing is true: there's nothing deadlier than a family with everything to lose . . .
The world was shocked by playwright Sarah Lingate's death thirty years ago at an opulent,
white-washed villa on the island of Capri. Absolved of the crime, the Lingate family maintains that what happened that night was a tragic accident. And every July they return to Capri to prove it's true.
This time, Helen Lingate - sole heir to the family fortune - has a plan. Tightly controlled by her father, she enlists the help of the family assistant, Lorna Moreno, to free herself from her family's stranglehold on her life. And yet, behind closed doors, the legendary Lingate family unity is at breaking point. Upon arrival at the villa in Capri, an anonymous gift awaits them: the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.
In the aftermath, the paranoid, insular Lingates begin to unravel. As the investigation into her mother's death is reopened, Helen begins to lose trust in everyone around her: her controlling father Richard, drug-addled aunt Naomi, aloof uncle Marcus, and even Lorna, whose past she realizes is frustratingly opaque. And as the family fractures, the long-hidden truth about that night and the secrets they've kept from one another boil to the surface - and they might not leave the island alive.
'Perfect for fans of The Fury and The Guest List' COSMOPOLITAN
'An elaborate game of cat and mouse' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'Engrossing and sinister . . . a must-read.' JULIE CLARK, author of The Last Flight
THE SENSATIONAL NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE CLOISTERS
The story of an hugely wealthy family whose annual retreat to Italy is shattered when a decades-old murder resurfaces and exposes a nestful of lies and betrayals. Here is an unsettling, electrifying thriller for all who loved Succession and The White Lotus . . .
On the glittering island of Capri, anything can be a mirage. But one thing is true: there's nothing deadlier than a family with everything to lose . . .
The world was shocked by playwright Sarah Lingate's death thirty years ago at an opulent,
white-washed villa on the island of Capri. Absolved of the crime, the Lingate family maintains that what happened that night was a tragic accident. And every July they return to Capri to prove it's true.
This time, Helen Lingate - sole heir to the family fortune - has a plan. Tightly controlled by her father, she enlists the help of the family assistant, Lorna Moreno, to free herself from her family's stranglehold on her life. And yet, behind closed doors, the legendary Lingate family unity is at breaking point. Upon arrival at the villa in Capri, an anonymous gift awaits them: the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.
In the aftermath, the paranoid, insular Lingates begin to unravel. As the investigation into her mother's death is reopened, Helen begins to lose trust in everyone around her: her controlling father Richard, drug-addled aunt Naomi, aloof uncle Marcus, and even Lorna, whose past she realizes is frustratingly opaque. And as the family fractures, the long-hidden truth about that night and the secrets they've kept from one another boil to the surface - and they might not leave the island alive.
'Perfect for fans of The Fury and The Guest List' COSMOPOLITAN
'An elaborate game of cat and mouse' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'Engrossing and sinister . . . a must-read.' JULIE CLARK, author of The Last Flight
Reviews / Votes
An elaborate game of cat and mouse in which the roles are constantly reversing and the twists keep coming. * MAIL ON SUNDAY * The Lingates have it all: prestige, power and the potential to be irrevocably destroyed if long-buried secrets get into the wrong hands . . . Katy Hays' The Vipers is sultry and sophisticated with a menacing undercurrent that keeps you thrillingly unsettled until its final spellbinding twist. Let the languid glamour of Capri gently take you by one hand, an ice cold Negroni in the other, but watch your step-the cliffs are treacherous and so, too, is a family with everything to lose. -- RACHEL KOLLER CROFT, author of Stone Cold Fox A superlative novel packed with bewildering misdirection. * SUNDAY TIMES, Crime Fiction 'Pick of the Month' * Engrossing and sinister . . . has all the elements thriller readers love: dead bodies, deception, and betrayal. But at its core, this multi-layered story delves into the concepts of familial loyalty and generational trauma . . . a must-read! -- JULIE CLARK, author of The Last Flight A captivating island-set murder mystery perfect for fans of The Fury and The Guest List . . . thrilling. * COSMOPOLITAN * The White Lotus meets Patricia Highsmith. * i-PAPER * Brilliantly written in scintillating prose . . . an Italian Opera for the modern age, in which a daughter of fortune desperate to escape her monstrous family digs up the skeletons of the past, setting off a serpentine chain reaction that will leave you breathless. Superbly plotted and deftly executed, this searing takedown of the upper crust is one to savour! -- KATHERINE WOOD, author of Ladykiller Stellar . . . a powerful, surprise-packed study of family, wealth, and consequences . . . Hays uses the island setting to brilliantly exploit locked-room mystery tropes, and doles out jaw-dropping reveals at just the right moments. This masterful suspense story has all the momentum of a runaway train. * PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY starred review * Exhilarating . . . sleuthing minds will cavort with acrobatic prowess, reeling from one unexpected twist to another . . . Hitchcockian in its film-noirish malevolence, Hays' second novel also deviously channels Patricia Highsmith's cunningly and sympathetically flawed characters to deliver an absorbing read. * BOOKLIST starred review * A twisty, seductive thriller. -- NINA SIMON, author of Mother-Daughter Murder NightMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 190 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
231 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80499-402-3 (9781804994023)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Katy Hays
The Vipers
The electrifying new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Cloisters
E-Book
03/2025
Transworld Digital
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Katy Hays is the author of the international bestseller, The Cloisters. In addition to writing, Katy works as an adjunct Art History Professor, teaching rural students from Truckee to Tecopa. She holds an MA in Art History from Williams College and pursued her PhD in Art History at UC Berkeley. Her academic writing has been published by Ashgate, an imprint of Routledge.
Her fiction explores how far humans are willing to go to believe the unbelievable, strange-but-real worlds, and complex female friendships. When not writing, Katy is a skier, cyclist, trail runner, and reader. She lives with her husband and their dog, Queso, in the Sierra Nevada, California.
Find out more at www.katyhays.com
Instagram @heykatyhays
Her fiction explores how far humans are willing to go to believe the unbelievable, strange-but-real worlds, and complex female friendships. When not writing, Katy is a skier, cyclist, trail runner, and reader. She lives with her husband and their dog, Queso, in the Sierra Nevada, California.
Find out more at www.katyhays.com
Instagram @heykatyhays