Set in Renaissance Florence, D. V. Bishop''s series follows Cesare Aldo, former soldier and now an officer of the city''s most feared criminal court, as he endeavours to solve a murder in a city full of plots and treason. The first novel of the series, City of Vengeance, starts in the winter of 1536. Aldo must stop a conspiracy while trying to keep his secrets his own. The story continues in The Darkest Sin and garnered praise from the likes of S. G. MacLean who said ''D. V. Bishop transports you to an utterly convincing 16th century Florence, where the best and worst of human nature constantly circle each other in this tense mystery.''>

Autorentext
D. V. Bishop is the pseudonym of writer David Bishop. His love for Italy and the Renaissance period meant there could be only one setting for his historical thrillers. His novels have won the CWA Historical Dagger, the NZ Booklovers Award, and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. He has also been shortlisted for Scotland's McIlvanney Prize, the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and for the CWA Gold Dagger. David teaches creative writing at Edinburgh Napier University. Shadow of Madness is the sixth Cesare Aldo mystery.

Klappentext

The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author

Winner of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel

Ceremonial murder has returned to Florence. Only two men can end the destruction. Featuring Officer Cesare Aldo, Ritual of Fire is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Italy.

'Fast becoming a serious rival to C. J. Sansom and S. J. Parris' - Historical Novel Society

Florence. Summer, 1538.

A night patrol finds a wealthy merchant hanged and set ablaze in the city's main square. More than mere murder, this killing is intended to put the fear of God into Florence. Forty years earlier, puritanical monk Girolamo Savonarola was executed the same way. Does this new killing mean his fanatical disciples are reviving the monk's regime of holy terror?

Cesare Aldo is busy hunting thieves in the Tuscan countryside, leaving Constable Carlo Strocchi to investigate the killing. When another merchant is burned alive in public, the rich start fleeing to their country estates. But the Tuscan hills can also be dangerous.

Growing religious fervour and a scorching heatwave drives the city ever closer to madness. Meanwhile, someone is stalking those powerful men who forged lifelong bonds in the dark days of Savonarola.

Unless Aldo and Strocchi work together, all of Florence will be consumed by an inferno of death and destruction . . .

'Religion and lust? Money and politics? It's all here, combined into a murderous brew' - Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Royal Secret

Ritual of Fire is the third Cesare Aldo mystery, preceded by City of Vengeance and The Darkest Sin. The series continues with A Divine Fury.

Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger for The Darkest Sin.

Zusammenfassung
Set during a scorching Italian summer in which a series of ritual killings are shocking the city, Ritual of Fire is a historical crime novel set in 1530s Renaissance Florence and is the sequel to City of Vengeance and The Darkest Sin by D. V. Bishop.