Third in "a superb historical series set in Fascist Italy . . . and featuring one of the most melancholy detectives in European noir crime fiction" (The New York Times Book Review).

Commissario Ricciardi has visions. He sees and hears the final seconds in the lives of victims of violent deaths. It is both a gift and a curse. It has helped him become one of the most acute and successful homicide detectives in the Naples police force. But the horror and suffering he has seen has hollowed him out emotionally. He drinks too much and sleeps too little. His love life is a shamble. Other than his loyal partner, Brigadier Maione, he has no friends.
Naples, 1931. Together with Brigadier Maione, Ricciardi is investigating the death of the beautiful and mysterious Duchess of Camparino, whose connections to privileged Neapolitan social circles and the local fascist elite make the case a powder keg waiting to explode. As Benito Mussolini's state visit to Naples looms and authorities frantically seek to clean up the city's image, Ricciardi will stop at nothing to find the duchess's killer.

"Reading a novel by Maurizio de Giovanni is like stepping into a Vittorio De Sica movie. The sights and smells of Naples are pungently evoked."-The New York Times Book Review

"Combines a rare setting for a whodunit, Fascist Italy, with a classic fair-play puzzle and a highly unusual lead . . . a lyrical and tantalizing opening . . . intriguing."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In the popular field of historical noir featuring gloomy but brilliant detectives, de Giovanni's series easily stands out as a success."-Library Journal (starred review)