A Darkness Descending: A Mystery in Florence - Hardcover

Kent, Christobel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605985368 ISBN 13: 9781605985367

Publisher: Pegasus Crime, 2013

Synopsis

The secret world of a murder victim leads detective Sandro Cellini to uncover the hidden life of a woman consumed by a deadly obsession.

When the driven, charismatic leader of a Florentine political movement collapses at a rally, his young party immediately comes under threat. And when it emerges that his wife, Flavia, has disappeared, leaving behind not only a devastated husband but their newborn son, the political becomes dangerously personal―and Detective Inspector Sandro Cellini is summoned to investigate.  The trail leads to a somber seaside town, where Flavia chose to end her life. But Cellini isn't satisfied―why would one so young and with so much to live for walk away from all she loves? As he digs into Flavia's secret world, however, Sandro uncovers the hidden life of a woman consumed with private passions and a dark, deadly obsession―a stark reminder that life in modern Italy has a perilous edge, fueled as much by rage as desire.

About this title

About the Author

Christobel Kent's previous books include The Dead Season, A Darkness Descending, A Party in San Niccolo, Late Season, and A Florentine Revenge. She lives near Cambridge with her family.

From Booklist

Unrelenting gloom, in setting and spirit, fills Kent’s Florentine noir mysteries. Her hero, Sandro Cellini, formerly a cop but now a private investigator (the noir CV), has a bleak professional and home life. Florence itself is dingy and oppressive in his eyes; even when the plot takes readers to the Piazza della Signoria, for example, it’s the piazza rendered as a bleak backdrop. Too much noir can verge on the ridiculous, and it often does here. However, if the setting doesn’t fit noir, Kent’s take on contemporary politics and her character-driven plot do. A young woman disappears—she is the mother of a six-week-old baby and the wife of a charismatic leader of a political movement that protests mainstream politics. Her body is discovered in the bathtub of a (suitably) depressing seaside town. Both Cellini and his wife, whose loss of a child years earlier still haunts the couple, need to find out what happened to this promising woman. Most interesting are the glimpses of lost souls given through Cellini’s assistant, a woman whom he rescued from addiction and the streets. The tone is overdone, but the plotline is engrossing. --Connie Fletcher

Edition details

• Publisher: Pegasus Crime
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1605985368
• ISBN 13: 9781605985367
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 400