CHRISTOBEL KENT

As Sandro gets to grips with the dispiriting realities of life as a private detective, touting for business among old contacts and following errant teenagers, an old case comes back to haunt him ...

When Niccolo Rosselli, the driven, charismatic leader of a Florentine political movement, collapses at a rally, his young party immediately comes under threat. And when it emerges that his long time partner, Flavia, has disappeared, leaving behind not only a devastated husband but their newborn son, the political becomes dangerously personal - and Sandro Cellini is drafted in to investigate. The trail leads to a tired sea-side town and a modest hotel, where Flavia chose to end her life. But Cellini isn't satisfied - why would one so young and with so much to live for, walk away from all she loves? As he digs into Flavia's secret world, however, Sandro uncovers the hidden life of a woman consumed with private passions and a deadly, dark obsession. And as the private and public realms intersect, he cannot forget that life in modern Italy has a perilous edge - fuelled as much by rage as desire.

Christobel Kent es autora de cinco novelas de lectura independiente, así como de otras cinco obras protagonizadas por el detective Sandro Cellini. La exitosa A time of Mourning es la primera de ellas.Una mañana de noviembre en Florencia, la viuda de un eminente arquitecto judio se presenta en la puerta de Sandro Cellini, expolicia, para pedirle que investigue el suicidio de su marido. Cellini acepta, aunque este caso supondra un desdichado comienzo en su nueva andadura como detective privado. Todo apunta a que Claudio Gentileschi, superviviente del Holocausto, se ha quitado la vida. Pero mientras reconstruye las ultimas horas del arquitecto bajo las peores lluvias torrenciales vistas en Florencia desde las inundaciones de 1996, una joven desaparece, y la investigacion de Sandro se tornara de repente en algo mas tenebroso y apremiante de lo que podria haber imaginadoChristobel Kent ha dado vida a un detective que es lo suficientemente diferente como para tener su propio hueco en el listado de los mejores investigadores privados italianos.Amazon¿Quien puede resistirse a un detective italiano dedicado a su esposa? Brunetti, en la primera novela de Donna Leon, robo mi corazon, y ahora lo hace el detective Sandro Cellini, de Christobel Kent, en A Time of Mourning.JB RowleyReviewsLa Fl...

"When private investigator Sandro Cellini is invited to attend a glamorous launch party for a luxury residence overlooking the glittering expanse of Florence, he has no idea what he's walking into. Behind the ancient and luxurious facade of Palazzo San Giorgio, there lies a series of terrible secrets; an old torture chamber, hidden for centuries in the bowels of the building, and a much more recent malevolence. The former head of security for this elite development has just died under suspicious circumstances and Sandro finds himself - quite literally - stepping into dead man's shoes. He soon discovers that other unsavoury incidents have tainted the prestigious opening. When one of the residents is found murdered in her room, events begin to spiral out of control. Sandro must work to untangle the complex web of relationships that exists between residents and staff to unmask a deadly killer."

Three sinister crimes in one, set against the backdrop of the the faded decadence and small-town claustrophobia of contemporary FlorenceBrooding Italian noirIndependent on SundaySuspense, atmosphere, and the architectural beauty of Florence... Fantastic Irish Examiner A Time of MourningSandro Cellini - ex-policeman, good husband and newly-minted private detective - is at first unwilling to see any connection between the disappearance of a young English girl from among Florences hard-drinking community of foreign arts students, and the suicide of an elderly Jewish architect. But as he investigates the circumstances more closely, Sandros first case turns out to be darker and more complex than he could have imagined...A Fine and Private PlaceJust as Sandro gets to grips with the reality of life as a private detective, an old case comes back to haunt him. As heattempts to uncover the truth of Loni Meadowss violent and lonely death, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the a highly strung arts community and the closed world they inhabit in the Casentinos isolated hillsThe Dead SeasonFlorences inhabitants have fled to the hills, but Sandro Cellini will not be joining the holidaymakers this year - a man has vanished into thin air, leaving his pregnant wife abandoned. Meanwhile, bankteller Roxana Delfino is trapped in the city heat, worrying for her aging mother and puzzling over the disappearance of one of her regular clients. When the weather finally breaks, it brings with it a shocking revelation.

THE THIRD INSTALMENT IN THE SANDRO CELLINI SERIES: Florence lies deserted. The sluggish Arno and the Ponte Vecchio shimmer in the summer haze. A corpse lies on the roadside, waiting for discovery... Every August, Florence shimmers in the summer heat. But this year the heatwave is fiercer than usual, and the citys inhabitants have fled to the cool of the hills. So it is no surprise that amidst the shrubbery of a normally busy roundabout, a corpse lies unnoticed, bloating in the humid air.Sandro Cellini will not be joining the crowds of holidaymakers this year. The former policeman turned private detective has a case: a man who seems to have vanished into thin air - leaving his pregnant young wife alone in the city. Meanwhile, bankteller Roxana Delfino is also stuck in the city for the season, with nothing to do but worry for her aging mother and puzzle over the disappearance of one her regular clients.As all Florence sweats it out, Cellini attempts to grapple with his case and the complications it throws up. And when the weather finally breaks, it brings with it a shocking revelation...

When private investigator Sandro Cellini is invited to attend a glamorous launch party for a luxury residence overlooking Florence, he has no idea what hes walking into. Behind the austere beauty of Palazzo San Giorgios façade terrible secrets lie hidden: not only an old torture chamber uncovered during excavations, but a much more recent malevolence.Then the head of security dies under suspicious circumstances and Sandro takes on the dead mans role. He soon discovers that his predecessors death was not random, or isolated, when one of the residents is found murdered in her room. Now, Sandro must work to untangle the secrets of the palazzo to unmask a deadly killer before the fate of another victim is sealed...

One fateful night. One unthinkable family tragedy. One survivor. This is Alison's story. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and Apple Tree Yard, this stunning psychological thriller follows one woman's search for the truth about her family history. Alison is as close to anonymous as she can get: with no ties and a backroom job, hers is a life lived under the radar. But once Alison was someone else: once she was Esme, a teenager whose bedroom sat at the top of a remote house on a bleak estuary. A girl whose family, if not happy, exactly, was no unhappier than anyone else's - or so she thought. Then one night violence was unleashed in the crooked house, in a nightmare that only Alison survived and from which she's been running ever since. Only when she falls for the charismatic Paul does Alison realise that to have any chance of happiness, she must return to her old life and face a closed community full of dark secrets. As she seeks to uncover the truth of what happened that terrible night, Alison begins to question everything she thought she knew. Is there anyone she can trust?

As Sandro gets to grips with the dispiriting realities of life as a private detective, touting for business among old contacts and following errant teenagers, an old case comes back to haunt him... As Sandro Cellini gets to grips with the dispiriting realities of life as a private detective, touting for business among old contacts and following errant teenagers, an old case comes back to haunt him...Once the subject of a routine investigation back in Sandros early days as an investigator, Loni Meadows - the glamorous, charming and ruthless director of an artistic Trust based in a castle in the hills outside Florence - is found dead in circumstances Sandro cannot convince himself are accidental. However inconvenient his suspicions might be, both to Sandro - whose marriage appears to be disintegrating - and to Meadowss erstwhile employers at the Trust, he presses ahead with the case. And as Sandro attempts to uncover the truth of Loni Meadowss violent and lonely death, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the castles highly strung community and the closed world they inhabit in the Casentinos isolated hills.

THE FOURTH INSTALMENT IN THE SANDRO CELLINI SERIES: a dark, unsettling psychological mystery set in a Florence mired in crisis. When Niccolo Rosselli, the driven, charismatic leader of a Florentine political movement, collapses at a rally, his young party immediately comes under threat. And when it emerges that his long time partner, Flavia, has disappeared, leaving behind not only a devastated husband but their newborn son, the political becomes dangerously personal - and Sandro Cellini is drafted in to investigate. The trail leads to a tired sea-side town and a modest hotel, where Flavia chose to end her life. But Cellini isnt satisfied - why would one so young and with so much to live for, walk away from all she loves? As he digs into Flavias secret world, however, Sandro uncovers the hidden life of a woman consumed with private passions and a deadly, dark obsession. And as the private and public realms intersect, he cannot forget that life in modern Italy has a perilous edge - fuelled as much by rage as desire.

Three sinister crimes in one, set against the backdrop of the the faded decadence and small-town claustrophobia of contemporary FlorenceBrooding Italian noirIndependent on SundaySuspense, atmosphere, and the architectural beauty of Florence... Fantastic Irish Examiner A Time of MourningSandro Cellini - ex-policeman, good husband and newly-minted private detective - is at first unwilling to see any connection between the disappearance of a young English girl from among Florences hard-drinking community of foreign arts students, and the suicide of an elderly Jewish architect. But as he investigates the circumstances more closely, Sandros first case turns out to be darker and more complex than he could have imagined...A Fine and Private PlaceJust as Sandro gets to grips with the reality of life as a private detective, an old case comes back to haunt him. As heattempts to uncover the truth of Loni Meadowss violent and lonely death, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the a highly strung arts community and the closed world they inhabit in the Casentinos isolated hillsThe Dead SeasonFlorences inhabitants have fled to the hills, but Sandro Cellini will not be joining the holidaymakers this year - a man has vanished into thin air, leaving his pregnant wife abandoned. Meanwhile, bankteller Roxana Delfino is trapped in the city heat, worrying for her aging mother and puzzling over the disappearance of one of her regular clients. When the weather finally breaks, it brings with it a shocking revelation.

A RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 'Wow. This one will keep your bedside light on until the small hours - it's unputdownable.' Richard & Judy For fans of Apple Tree Yard and The Silent Wife, The Loving Husband draws readers into a marriage where nothing is as it seems...Fran Hall and her husband Nathan have moved with their two children to a farmhouse on the edge of the Fens - a chance to get away from London and have a fresh start. But when Fran wakes one night to find Nathan gone, she makes a devastating discovery. As questions about her husband and her relationships start to mount, Fran's life begins to spiral out of control. What is she hiding from the police about her marriage, and does she really know the man she shared her bed with?

Watching the British visitors arrive from her own terrace is Anna Viola, whose family has lived for centuries in the crumbling red brick farmhouse above Il Vignacce. As a little girl during the war, Anna watched an Englishman arrive at the house, seeking shelter from the Germans. His appearance would change her life for ever; it still haunts the family home she holds in trust for her beloved son Paolo. The apparently peaceful Italian countryside holds as many secrets as its visitors and, before the week is out, the past and the present will collide, with unexpected and dramatic results …

Celia lives and works in Florence as a tour guide. In the cold December weather a man''s body is found in a disused swimming pool - a man who 15 years earlier was the chief suspect in an enquiry into the death of a six year old English girl. Soon, she finds she is by no means alone in remembering the gruesome details of that terrible murder.

An entrancing story that is one of the most absorbing examinations of the English in Italy since A Room With A View. Set during one week in springtime Florence, A Party In San Niccolo follows the events leading up to the seventy-fifth birthday party for Frances Richardson, a much-loved English resident. Around her, Frances' friends are gearing up for the party too: Frank, a disenchanted journalist; Jane, who runs an Italian cookery school for rich Home Counties wives; her shady husband Niccolo; and Gina, a beleaguered mother-of-three who has come to Florence for a break. Before the week is out love, death, family secrets and old memories will come to a head at Frances' party, with dramatic results...

Making a home, however, in the ravishing, haunted landscape of Italy's Riviera coast, turns out to be lonelier than Rose had anticipated. And it is only when she is asked to write a profile of one of her reclusive neighbours, the once-glamorous film star Elvira Vitale, that Rose feels her new life is really beginning.