# Read the first page of The English Assassin by Daniel Silva Read the opening of The English Assassin by Daniel Silva free, no signup. An art-restorer spy is framed for murder while restoring a Zurich banker's painting. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/the-english-assassin-daniel-silva - Genre: Thrillers - Year: 2003 - ISBN: 9781101209714 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781101209714&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781101209714 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781101209714 ## The opening Marguerite Rolfe was digging in her garden because of the secrets she'd found hidden in her husband's study. It was late to be working in the garden, well past midnight by now. The spring thaw had left the earth soft and moist, and her spade split the soil with little effort, allowing her to progress with minimal noise. For this she was grateful. Her husband and daughter were asleep in the villa, and she didn't want to wake them. Why couldn't it have been something simple, like love letters from another woman? There would have been a good row, Marguerite would have confessed her own affair. Lovers would have been relinquished, and soon their home would return to normal. But she hadn't found love letters—she'd found something much worse. For a moment she blamed herself. If she hadn't been searching his study, she never would have found the photographs. She could have spent the rest of her life in blissful oblivion, believing her husband was the man he appeared to be. But now she knew. Her husband was a monster, his life a lie—a complete and meticulously maintained lie. Therefore she too was a lie. Marguerite Rolfe concentrated on her work, making slow and steady progress. After an hour it was done. A good hole, she decided: about six feet in length and two feet across. Six inches below the surface she had encountered a dense layer of clay. As a result it was a bit shallower than she would have preferred. It didn't matter. She knew it wasn't permanent. She picked up the gun. It was her husband's favorite weapon, a beautiful shotgun, handcrafted for him by a master gunsmith in Milan. He would never be able to use it again. This pleased her. She thought of Anna. Please don't wake up, Anna. Sleep, my love. Then she stepped into the ditch, lay down on her back, placed the end of the barrel in her mouth, pulled the trigger. THE girl was awakened by music. She did not recognize the piece and wondered how it had found its way into her head. It lingered a moment, a descending series of notes, a serene diminishment. She reached out, eyes still closed, and searched the folds of the bedding until her palm found the body which lay a few inches away. Her fingers slipped over the narrow waist, up the slender, elegant neck, toward the graceful curved features of the scroll. Last night they had quarreled. Now it was time to set aside their differences and make peace. She eased from the bed, pulled on a dressing gown. ## Books with a similar feel - [Zero Days by Ruth Ware](https://uncovered.ink/read/zero-days-ruth-ware.md) - [The Survivors Club by Lisa Gardner](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-survivors-club-lisa-gardner.md) - [In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead](https://uncovered.ink/read/in-my-dreams-i-hold-a-knife-ashley-winstead.md) - [Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn](https://uncovered.ink/read/sharp-objects-gillian-flynn.md) - [Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson](https://uncovered.ink/read/her-every-fear-peter-swanson.md) - [A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins](https://uncovered.ink/read/a-slow-fire-burning-paula-hawkins.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.