The Mosaic Crimes - Tapa blanda

Florence, June 1300. The body of an artist, his face covered in quicklime, is discovered next to the mosaic he had almost completed. Dante Alighieri, the newly appointed prior of the city of Florence who will one day author the Inferno, is on the case in his first official investigation. Obscure clues lead him on a trail full of intrigue. What was the secret that might have been revealed had the artist lived to complete his work? Was it an alchemist’s formula to transform lead into gold? Or the identity of an heiress to the Swabian throne, whose rumored arrival could upset the political aspirations of Pope Boniface, Dante’s nemesis? Soon Dante comes to know the learned men who make up the so-called Third Heaven. Scholars of various disciplines, they appear to be increasingly linked to the mosaicist’s murder and the corrupt underbelly of the respected, cultured city of Florence.

An enthralling historical thriller from Italy’s new maestro of crime...

Florence, June 1300. The body of an artist, his face covered in quicklime, is discovered next to the mosaic he had almost completed. What was the secret that might have been revealed had the artist lived to complete his work?

Dante Alighieri, the newly appointed prior of the city of Florence, who will one day author the Inferno, is on the case in his first investigation. Soon he finds himself entangled with the mysterious group of scholars who make up the so-called "Third Heaven." Are they the key to the mosaicist’s murder and the corrupt underbelly of the city?

"Beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and genuinely suspenseful . . . Leoni's book reminds us that we have more in common with the Middle Ages than simple murder and mayhem." ?The Philadelphia Inquirer

GIULIO LEONI is a novelist, critic, and professor of Italian literature. He was awarded the Premio Tedeschi for best debut crime novel of the year. He lives in Rome.