The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra

The "Da Vinci" wannabes just keep coming. Europe's highest-profile entry in the sweepstakes is The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra, translated from the original Spanish by Alberto Manguel.

This is a considerably better novel than most pretenders to the mystical-thriller throne. While it covers similar ground to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," this is a moodier and generally more intellectual story, with an undertone of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose."

One thing that immediately distinguishes "The Secret Supper" is that Leonardo Da Vinci is in fact a character in the tale, and he's depicted with an agreeably enigmatic puckishness. The novel takes place in 1497, as Leonardo is completing "The Last Supper" in Milan.

Virtually everyone, from Pope Alexander VI to the monks cohabiting with the painting, suspect that Leonardo is concealing a mysterious (and possibly blasphemous) message in the work. But no one can decipher it.

You can find the review here