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A Serpent's Egg
April 1915: A gentle Suffolk spring unfolds in a world riven by conflict
When Miss Smy is framed for the murder of a London music hall performer in the sleepy Suffolk town of Framlingham, she finds herself not only fighting to clear her name, but in doing so, revisiting painful episodes from her past. As murder begets murder, Smy determinedly tracks down the real perpetrators, whilst slowly becoming aware that others, at the very highest level, are carefully monitoring her movements.
‘The Serpent’s Egg’ is the fourth book in Michael Heath’s series of Winifred Smy mysteries, a complex tale that finds Miss Smy needing to travel outside her home county for answers to two brutal killings. Once again, she calls upon the wisdom and assistance of characters introduced in earlier books as she doggedly pursues the many strands that lead her to utterly unexpected discoveries.
When Miss Smy is framed for the murder of a London music hall performer in the sleepy Suffolk town of Framlingham, she finds herself not only fighting to clear her name, but in doing so, revisiting painful episodes from her past. As murder begets murder, Smy determinedly tracks down the real perpetrators, whilst slowly becoming aware that others, at the very highest level, are carefully monitoring her movements.
‘The Serpent’s Egg’ is the fourth book in Michael Heath’s series of Winifred Smy mysteries, a complex tale that finds Miss Smy needing to travel outside her home county for answers to two brutal killings. Once again, she calls upon the wisdom and assistance of characters introduced in earlier books as she doggedly pursues the many strands that lead her to utterly unexpected discoveries.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 22, 2025
About the author
Michael Heath
10 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
About the Author
Google my name and you will see that it was as a business author that I had initially established my writing reputation, with invitations from the likes of HarperCollins and the Dragons’ Den production team who were keen to employ my knack for making complex business concepts accessible.
But, thankfully, life changed and, now that I was not driven by the same commercial need, I quickly moved on to completing and publishing my first novella, ‘Killing Time in Kenton’.
I love stories. Other people’s stories. Stories that capture those small snapshots of imperfect living. Like so many writers I collect other people’s anecdotes and tales and squirrel them away ready for the wintery landscape of an empty page.
I am convinced that every good conversation hides something precious that’s waiting to be mined. And it can happen in the most ordinary of circumstances: waiting for a plane; meeting another dog walker; chatting to someone in a supermarket queue. Young, old or some vague point in between, no person’s life is private when a writer is listening.
Behind the Books
Having devoured the great Victorian novelists in my youth, I have always wanted to fashion a series of books with a strong sense of place and time. It was only when I moved to East Anglia that I found the geographical ‘voice’ that I was searching for and which is so apparent in the first of my ‘Winifred Smy Mysteries’, Killing Time in Kenton. The novella’s events all unfold against the backdrop of a small East Suffolk hamlet in the uncertain years that immediately precede the First World War.
With a keen sense of the need for historical accuracy gained through extensive research, I incorporate real locations and local stories; even the surnames in my fiction are those that have emerged from my scouring of local churchyards and parish records, usually in the company of my very badly-behaved Lhasa Apso dog, Coco.
What about outside of writing? Well, I am a keen pianist, guitarist, and composer, regularly partnering with other musicians online under the band name ‘The One Beneath’.
I also support Coventry City Football Club am keen to point out in my defense that it was because I was born there. #PUSB
About the Author
Google my name and you will see that it was as a business author that I had initially established my writing reputation, with invitations from the likes of HarperCollins and the Dragons’ Den production team who were keen to employ my knack for making complex business concepts accessible.
But, thankfully, life changed and, now that I was not driven by the same commercial need, I quickly moved on to completing and publishing my first novella, ‘Killing Time in Kenton’.
I love stories. Other people’s stories. Stories that capture those small snapshots of imperfect living. Like so many writers I collect other people’s anecdotes and tales and squirrel them away ready for the wintery landscape of an empty page.
I am convinced that every good conversation hides something precious that’s waiting to be mined. And it can happen in the most ordinary of circumstances: waiting for a plane; meeting another dog walker; chatting to someone in a supermarket queue. Young, old or some vague point in between, no person’s life is private when a writer is listening.
Behind the Books
Having devoured the great Victorian novelists in my youth, I have always wanted to fashion a series of books with a strong sense of place and time. It was only when I moved to East Anglia that I found the geographical ‘voice’ that I was searching for and which is so apparent in the first of my ‘Winifred Smy Mysteries’, Killing Time in Kenton. The novella’s events all unfold against the backdrop of a small East Suffolk hamlet in the uncertain years that immediately precede the First World War.
With a keen sense of the need for historical accuracy gained through extensive research, I incorporate real locations and local stories; even the surnames in my fiction are those that have emerged from my scouring of local churchyards and parish records, usually in the company of my very badly-behaved Lhasa Apso dog, Coco.
What about outside of writing? Well, I am a keen pianist, guitarist, and composer, regularly partnering with other musicians online under the band name ‘The One Beneath’.
I also support Coventry City Football Club am keen to point out in my defense that it was because I was born there. #PUSB
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 16, 2025
This 4th Winifred Smy mystery is the best yet, and not just for the gorgeous serpent and egg cover which is my favourite to date.
The two things which frustrated me a little about the previous books have been lack of background on our wonderful suffragette sleuth and the murder mystery element being sometimes secondary to the drama - 2 elements we get in spades in this one.
It opens with the murder of a music hall star visiting Framlingham, someone from Miss Smy's past and throughout the novel, the bodies pile up. We also get a decent level of detecting and leg work, travelling as far as Brighton to catch the killer.
As ever, fantastic evocation of East Anglian life in 1915, we get Suffolk dialect and this is well researched with authentic family names and places.
I love the supporting cast in this - Journalist Nigel Manners is back and long suffering Inspector Tranmer. This one's got a real cinematic feel to it, would make a fun TV series.
The plot is exciting and a fusion between the theatrical world of Tipping the Velvet and WW1 Agatha Christie. Its a solid crime plot but also serves as a vehicle to explore the protagonist's back story, which is not always easy to pull off.
Thumbs up from me, I really enjoyed this one.
The two things which frustrated me a little about the previous books have been lack of background on our wonderful suffragette sleuth and the murder mystery element being sometimes secondary to the drama - 2 elements we get in spades in this one.
It opens with the murder of a music hall star visiting Framlingham, someone from Miss Smy's past and throughout the novel, the bodies pile up. We also get a decent level of detecting and leg work, travelling as far as Brighton to catch the killer.
As ever, fantastic evocation of East Anglian life in 1915, we get Suffolk dialect and this is well researched with authentic family names and places.
I love the supporting cast in this - Journalist Nigel Manners is back and long suffering Inspector Tranmer. This one's got a real cinematic feel to it, would make a fun TV series.
The plot is exciting and a fusion between the theatrical world of Tipping the Velvet and WW1 Agatha Christie. Its a solid crime plot but also serves as a vehicle to explore the protagonist's back story, which is not always easy to pull off.
Thumbs up from me, I really enjoyed this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review