In the middle of a summer heat wave, as Naples prepares for one of its most important holy days, a renowned surgeon falls to his death from his office window. For Commissario Ricciardi and Brigadier Maione it is the beginning of an investigation that will bring them into contact with the most torrid, conflicting, and enduring of human passions. In the world Ricciardi and Maione are about to enter, infidelity appears inextricable from the most joyful expressions of love, and, this interdependence sows doubt and uncertainty in both men, compromising their personal lives. Ricciardi is one of the most intriguing and unique figures to appear in crime fiction in recent years. He possesses the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death. This makes him an unusually effective investigator, but it also renders real human relationships almost impossible. He is a classic noir hero and the cursed son of a city that, for all its Mediterranean splendor, is a perfect noir setting. In this new installment in the Commissario Ricciardi series, Maurizio de Giovanni proves once again why he is considered one of the best crime writers working today.

Maurizio de Giovanni
Maurizio de Giovanni lives and works in Naples. In 2005, he won a writing competition for unpublished authors with a short story set in the thirties about Commissario Ricciardi, which was then turned into the first novel of the series. His books have been successfully translated into French, Spanish and German, and are now available in English for the first time.

• May 27 2016
  The Mysteries of Naples
  — The Wall Street Journal
• Nov 18 2015
  Barnes & Noble Review: "De Giovanni wisely keeps mysticism in check as he deepens the mystery at the novel’s core."
  — Barnes and Noble Review
• Nov 9 2015
  Mary Whipple: "Maurizio de Giovanni just keeps getting better and better."
  — Seeing the World Through Books
• Nov 3 2015
  Shots Magazine: "finely written and immaculately translated."
  — Shots Magazine
• Sep 23 2015
  Kirkus Reviews: “A richly textured story whose murder is nothing more than the point of entry.”
  — Kirkus Reviews
• Sep 1 2015
  Publishers Weekly Starred Review: “A searing look at the tortured soul of the lead makes this entry especially memorable.”
  — Publishers Weekly