Liverpool, October 1952. The war is over, but the city still bears its scars, ration books in hand, gas lamps flickering in the fog, and secrets buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out streets. When the body of violinist Lydia Vale washes ashore at Pier Head, wrapped in oilskin and clutching a bow engraved with a coiled serpent, Detective Silas Walker knows the past has returned with a vengeance.

Years ago, he hunted a killer known only as Crowe, a man obsessed with truth, ritual, and a symbol that marked his victims like sacrificial offerings. Crowe vanished. But now, the serpent is back, and it's not alone. A new killer walks the docks and concert halls, leaving cryptic messages in music, medicine, and blood. Worse still, he's gathered followers a shadowy "choir" that believes murder is divine judgment.

As Silas races through Liverpool's smog-choked alleys, jazz clubs, and crumbling churches, he uncovers a conspiracy that reaches into the asylum halls of Rainhill and the wartime horrors of Burma. With the help of his loyal partner Harry Briggs and the resilient barmaid Eleanor, Silas must confront not just a murderer, but a cult that sees him as the final witness to their twisted gospel.

The Serpent's Coil is a gripping, atmospheric mystery steeped in postwar Britain, where every note of music hides a lie, every victim tells a story, and the line between justice and obsession is as thin as a violin string.