The Vipers

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

***Readers Love The Vipers!***

'A thrilling murder mystery, that had me hooked from start to finish.' FIVE-STARS

'A pulse-pounding thriller that challenges everything you think you know about family and loyalty.' FIVE-STARS

'Katy Hays has a great eye for detail and although I’ve never visited Capri, I felt as if I was transported there; a lively place full of colour and warmth and nestled within, a strange and dysfunctional family with secrets.' FIVE-STARS

'This is a novel to savour and enjoy...quite simply a joy to read!' FIVE-STARS

'Nothing is as it seemed and the meticulously built tower of lies and pretending falls apart piece by piece.' FIVE-STARS

[The Vipers is published in the US as Saltwater]