Late one night, the elderly curator of the Louvre is murdered inside the museum, leaving behind a bizarre arrangement of his own body and a string of coded clues. Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of religious symbology who happens to be in Paris, is summoned by the French police, who quietly regard him as their chief suspect.
Sophie Neveu, a police cryptologist and the curator's estranged granddaughter, helps Langdon escape, and the two follow a trail of puzzles hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Pursued by a determined police captain and a fanatical monk serving a secretive Catholic organisation, they turn to an eccentric British historian, Sir Leigh Teabing, as the search widens to London and Scotland.
Brown's formula of short chapters, cliffhangers, art history and conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail and early Christianity made the book one of the best-selling novels of the century. Historians and churches criticised its claims, which only fed public fascination. It inspired tourist trails around its locations and a 2006 film starring Tom Hanks.
Book details
| Author | Dan Brown |
|---|---|
| First published | 2003 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 454 |
| Setting | Paris, London and Scotland over about a day, early 2000s |
Themes
- Secret societies
- Religion and history
- Codes and symbols
- Conspiracy
- Art
Who should read it
Readers who want a fast, puzzle-packed thriller full of art and conspiracy lore.