Judge Borrelli lies dead in his car. On his face, an expression of surprise, as if his death was entirely unexpected, yet little was left to chance here. Somebody shot him in the head point blank, with a nail gun. Fausto De Santis, Salerno’s deputy police chief, a man with an inconvenient past, is at the scene with Inspector Ferri. A chalk outline near the automobile, a sequence of numbers that seems to make no sense: it all harkens back, it would appear, to a case gone cold and a serial killer, the Educator, six feet under for a while now. Is there really any link? Years ago, was an innocent convicted, or is this a copycat crime? A series of sudden deaths, a sequence of puzzling numbers, and a killer from the past: who is the Educator?

Antonio Lanzetta lives in Salerno. After writing fantasy/young adult novels, he switched to thrillers, first the short story Nella pioggia, shortlisted for the Gran Giallo di Cattolica Award, and then the novel Il buio dentro, translated in France, Canada, and Belgium, and rated one of the five best foreign thrillers of the year by the Sunday Times. It was a finalist for accolades such as the Prix Découverte de l’Iris Noir and the Masterton Prix, and winner of the Grand Prix Noir Charbon. Published by Newton Compton: L’uomo senza sonno, Delitto in riva al mare, Luna rosso sangue.