When private investigator Sandro Cellini is invited to attend a glamorous launch party for a luxury residence overlooking the glittering expanse of Florence, he has no idea what he's walking into. Behind the ancient and luxurious facade of Palazzo San Giorgio, there lies a series of terrible secrets; an old torture chamber, hidden for centuries in the bowels of the building, and a much more recent malevolence. The former head of security for this elite development has just died under suspicious circumstances and Sandro finds himself - quite literally - stepping into dead man's shoes. He soon discovers that other unsavoury incidents have tainted the prestigious opening. When one of the residents is found murdered in her room, events begin to spiral out of control. Sandro must work to untangle the complex web of relationships that exists between residents and staff to unmask a deadly killer.
Death, espresso, and political manoeuvering... An ex-cop plying his trade outside the boundaries of normal Italian police procedure. Brooding Italian noir. --Independent on Sunday
Like Dibden's Zen, Cellini is a reluctant inquirer... fascism, the mafia and revolving-door post-war governments have left many secrets that score dark marks on the surface of daily life. Taut and thoughtful mystery that draws on the contrast between location... and the savage passions and politics that lie underneath. --Guardian
Author
About Christobel Kent
Christobel Kent was born in London and educated at Cambridge. She has lived variously in Essex, London and Italy. Her childhood included several years spent on a Thames sailing barge in Maldon, Essex with her father, stepmother, three siblings and four step-siblings. She now lives in both Cambridge and Florence with her husband and five children.
