In the muddy waters of the Tiber River, hard by the Basilica of San Paolo, a woman’s body is found in a pose that suggests she was the victim of a mysterious ritual. So Inspector Zuliani summons Nemo Sperati, a young professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. When Sperati takes in the scene of the crime, right away he gets it: the famous Ophelia in the painting by John Everett Millais. Just two weeks earlier, he had sized up the body of the director of Palazzo Barberini: that scene reproduced Artemisia Gentileschi’s Jael and Sisara, recently stolen. The plot thickens when the painting is found and Nemo learns it’s actually a fake, the handiwork of Rufo Speranza, the 20th century’s greatest forger, who had died by suicide many years before. Mirko Zilahy holds a degree in foreign languages and literature from the University of Rome. He received his Ph.D from Trinity College in Dublin, where he taught Italian and Italian literature; he currently teaches English and English literature at Perugia’s University for Foreigners. He contributes to Il Corriere della Sera and has been an editor at minimum fax. He has written books about Irish authors and has translated novels such as The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Mystic River by Dennis Lehane into Italian. In 2016, his first novel, È così che si uccide, featuring the character Enrico Mancini, was published by Longanesi. He has since written: La forma del buio (2017), Così crudele è la fine (2018), L'uomo del bosco (2021), and Nostra signora delle nuvole (HarperCollins, 2023).

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.

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.

The Biondo and The Man with the Tie are solid partners in crime: meticulous craftsmen very much in demand, hired killers who receive a commission one day that forces them to up their game. The target is a billionaire from the highest spheres of finance, who resides in a fabulous non-zone that stretches from London to Milan. Here’s a priceless opportunity, the partners in crime muse, to take the profession of hitman to the next level – correction, to the very top, “the only sector with never a downturn being luxury goods, so the rich are the people to kill.” Serena Bertamé, a beauty who would like to dispatch her lover Andrea De Carli, her son’s real father, seems like the ideal client for their operation to reposition their brand and raise their rates. Once they pocket the advance, though, the problems start: hiccups, unwelcome surprises, misunderstandings, plot twists, accidents, madcap adventures, and spectacular upsets, all hopelessly entangled, in exclusive luxury settings that wed investment funds to unmentionable truths. Alessandro Robecchi has published novels and other books and writes for the print media, television, and theater. He was an opinionist for il Manifesto and Cuore. He is one of the writers on Maurizio Crozza’s shows. As a music critic, he has contributed to L’Unità and Il Mucchio Selvaggio. As for radio, he has directed Radio Popolare programs, putting together the satirical show Piovono pietre (2001 Viareggio Award for political satire) for five years. He founded and directed the free monthly Urban. He currently contributes to Il Fatto Quotidiano, Pagina99 and Micromega.

Trieste is a city that is used to silence, but this time it’s afraid to speak up. A nameless killer has committed two crimes, and the victims appear to have nothing in common, except for two tarot cards found near the bodies: Temperance and the Wheel of Fortune. As soon as Inspector Emma Bellini sees those, her blood runs cold; the cards come from a pack handmade by her sister Maia, an artist interested in all things esoteric, with whom Emma hasn’t spoken for years. Now she can’t put it off any longer: she has to track down Maia, question her, and understand the cards’ connection to the murders. Maia, though, is aghast. She says she destroyed the entire pack some time ago, after a traumatic event that wreaked havoc on her life and led her to give up fortune-telling, leaving one word burned into her memory, like a far-off echo, or a brand on the flesh. Safir. When a third body is found with yet another card next to it, the investigation turns into a race against time. While Emma uses logic to untangle an enigma that seems to be entirely irrational, Maia goes back to the tarot cards in an attempt to make peace with her past. And perhaps reconnect with her sister. Barbara Baraldi is the author of thrillers and comic books. Her series Aurora Scalviati, profiler del buio came out with Giunti editore. All told, her novels have been published by Mondadori, Castelvecchi, and Einaudi, along with a series of guides to the mysteries of Bologna brought out by Newton & Compton. Since 2012, she has written for the series Dylan Dog by Sergio Bonelli Editore. Baraldi has won several literary awards, including the Gran Giallo città di Cattolica and the Nebbia Gialla. She also features in Italian Noir, a BBC documentary on Italian thrillers. Her books have been acclaimed by critics and readers alike and have been published in several countries, such as Germany, the U.K., and the United States.