Shortlisted for the 2012 Crime Writers Association Daggers Award

Naples, March 1931: a bitter wind stalks the city streets, and murder lies at its chilled heart. When one of the world's greatest tenors, Maestro Vezzi, is found brutally murdered in his dressing room at Naples' famous San Carlo Theatre, the enigmatic and aloof Commissario Ricciardi is called in to investigate. Arrogant and bad-tempered, Vezzi was hated by many, but with the livelihoods of the opera company at stake, who would have committed this callous act? Ricciardi, along with his loyal colleague, Maione, is determined to discover the truth. But Ricciardi carries his own secret: will it help him solve tihs murder? Fans of Donna Leon and Manuel Vazquez Montalban will thrill to this new voice in crime fiction. This is the first book in a quartet of masterful crime novels set in fascist Italy--the series has taken European readers by storm. Europa Editions will publish all four books in the quartet.

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 In 2005, he won a writing competition for unpublished authors with a short story set in the thirties about Commissario Ricciardi, which was then turned into the first novel of the series.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.

• Sep 14 2018
  “... diverse and fascinating.”
  — Eyes on World Cultures
• May 27 2016
  The Mysteries of Naples
  — The Wall Street Journal
• Mar 18 2014
  Maurizio de Giovanni's Latest Thriller Receiving Positive Press
  
• Nov 26 2013
  Three Percent: "a very talented writer. He keeps enough hidden, layers his writing deep enough that the twists and turns come naturally."
  
• Aug 1 2013
  Stop, You're Killing Me!: "[An] intriguing debut novel..."
  
• Feb 25 2013
  Publishers Weekly: "De Giovanni's distinct brand of noir...will appeal to Agatha Christie and Manuel Vazquez Montalban fans."