Gold, Frankincense and Dust: A Commissario Soneri Investigation - Tapa dura

Parma. A multi-vehicle pile-up on the autostrada into the city. A cattle truck skids onto the verge. Dozens of cows and bulls go on the rampage, injured and crazy. AS the chaos subsides, the charred body of a young woman is found at the side of the road. As ever, Commissario Soneri is first on the scene. And, as always, he is the first to ask the key question: if the woman was thrown clear of her vehicle, why is her body so badly burned? The case comes as a welcome distraction: his mercurial lover Angela has decided to pursue other options, leaving him more morose than ever. The dead woman is soon identified as Nina Iliescu, a Romanian immigrant whose beauty had enchanted a string of wealthy lovers. Temptress, muse, angel - she was all things to all men. Her murder conceals a crime and a sacrilege, and even in death she has a surprise waiting for Soneri. In Gold, Frankincense and Dust, Varesi turns his forensic eye on the struggles of recent Romanian immigrants to Italy, greeted by mistrust and suspicion wherever they settle. In his most surprising and unpredictable novel yet, he confirms his status as a master of slow-burn intensity and brooding spice.