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The Vipers

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The Vipers

By: Katy Hays MA PhD MA PhD
Narrated by: Allyson Ryan, Cassandra Campbell, Carlotta Brentan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the bestselling author of The Cloisters comes this electrifying thriller about an affluent family whose annual retreat to Italy is shattered when a decades-old murder resurfaces . . . think The Talented Mr Ripley meets Succession meets 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.

'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

'Engrossing and sinister . . . a must-read for 2025.' JULIE CLARK, author of The Last Flight

© Katy Hays 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Amateur Sleuths Crime Thrillers International Mystery & Crime Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Crime

Critic reviews

An elaborate game of cat and mouse in which the roles are constantly reversing and the twists keep coming.
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.
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.
The White Lotus meets Patricia Highsmith.
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.
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.
A twisty, seductive thriller. (NINA SIMON, author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night)
All stars
Most relevant
What an audible. I was obsessed with this, lost in the secrets the murders and the family ‘Lingates’. Everything was about the power of wealth. Although this was a recommendation I was truly grateful for it as it wasn’t anything I would’ve guessed from the cover. I loved the setting of Capri in Italy. I loved how the author pieced together the past into the present building the past closer to the present the further the book takes you.

If it wasn’t for the murder resurfacing I didn’t know how they were going to link everything to Lorna. I won’t give any spoilers with this but I never would’ve expected the way everything tied up to catch me by surprise as much as it did. The individual characters of the family were easy to get to know. There were no complications on who was who and I enjoyed that. For a thriller read it was pretty good and one I’d recommend.

Thriller

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I did not expect the ending to this book! what a plot twist! I really enjoyed listening to the story, the characters were not likeable but that was part of the whole concept. It took a bit to get to grips woth the story passing back and forth between timeliness as a listener. This may have been more obvious when reading this novel. However once I understood I was sucked into their world and webs of lies and deceipt. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

thrilling and captivating

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