In October 2013, while Inspector Vincenzo Arcadipane and his mentor Corso Bramard were investigating a murder in a valley near Cuneo, a thirty-seven-year-old woman in Turin disappeared without a trace. That was nothing so out of the ordinary, except that the missing woman was Tina, an internationally renowned painter who lived as a recluse, of late, in her apartment and studio inside the Prora, the bizarre palazzo designed by her great-grandfather, an architect. When the case is dismissed as a voluntary gesture on Tina’s part, Muriel Gallirossi – her agent, confidant, and assistant – turns to Bramard, certain that her friend has been killed. Corso knows that the thorough investigation has certified an airtight alibi for the prime suspect, yet he can hardly say why – is it Tina’s paintings, or Muriel’s beauty? – but he decides to speak to Arcadipane.

Davide Longo was born in Carmagnola and lives in Turin, where he teaches creative writing at the Scuola Holden. He conducts workshops for teachers on how to use narrative techniques in schools at every age. His novels include Un mattino a Irgalem (Marcos y Marcos, 2001), Il mangiatore di pietre (Marcos y Marcos 2004), L’uomo verticale (Fandango, 2010), Maestro Utrecht (NN 2016), and Ballata di un amore italiano (Feltrinelli 2011). In 2014, he wrote the first novel in the series featuring Vincenzo Arcadipane and Corso Bramard, with six installments to date: Il caso Bramard (Feltrinelli, 2014; republished by Einaudi), Le bestie giovani (Feltrinelli, 2018; under the title Così giocano le bestie giovani, Einaudi, 2021), Una rabbia semplice (Einaudi, 2021), La vita paga il sabato (Einaudi, 2022; shortlisted for the Scerbanenco Award), Requiem di provincia (Einaudi, 2023), and La donna della mansarda (Einaudi, 2025). In 2018, he scripted the film Il mangiatore di pietre   directed by Nicola Bellucci and starring Luigi Lo Cascio.