MAGDALEN NABB

Daniela is a quiet single mother studying for a doctorate in chemistry. She rarely goes out, so her murder in her bedroom at the family''s new villa seems inexplicable. The prosecutor asks specifically for Marshal Guarnaccia to head the investigation, in this 14th book in the series.

When Marshal Guarnaccia is called upon to investigate the murder of a young woman, suspicions arise as to the motive. Guarnaccia is convinced that there's more to the family than first appears, and wonders if the girl's father, Paoletti, might have had something to do with her death. Enlisting the help of a local journalist, Marshal Guarnaccia's investigations draw him into the seedy underworld of Florence - lap dancing, prostitution and the illegal, human trafficking of Eastern European women who are sold into the sex trade. But can he save these women before it's too late and what do they have to do with the killing of Daniela Paoletti? Distracted by the plight of these women and the murder investigation, Guarnaccia forgets about his own personal problems but it's not long before he has choices to make - should he seek help and risk exposing himself and possibly losing his job, or should he go it alone?

Olivia, an American-born model, married Count Ugo Brunamonti, a feckless, soon impoverished aristocrat. After his death, she supported her children by starting a fashion house which has prospered. When she is kidnapped, the crime is reported to Marshal Guarnaccia by her daughter, who may have been the intended victim. Kidnapping is almost a second business for the Sardinians nominally engaged in raising sheep in the Tuscan hills. They inhabit a vast wilderness where a victim can be hidden away forever, and where those searching for her will be quickly spotted. The government''s official policy is not to permit the payment of ransom. But if the money isn''t paid, the kidnappers cannot let their victim go free. It would set a bad example. In this case, Guarnaccia suspects another problem. Can it be that Olivia''s children are unwilling to pay the ransom? Is this more than a random crime?

It was a very inconvenient time for murder. Florence was full of Christmas shoppers and half the police force was already on holiday. At first it seemed quite an ordinary murder. Of course, there are always a few mysteries. In this case, the dead man had been in the habit of moving his furniture at three o'clock in the morning. Naturally, the police wanted to know why. The case became more complicated. But all the time, the answer was right under their noses. They just couldn't see it. It was, after all, a very ordinary murder.

Guarnaccia es el comisario encargado de resolver los casos difíciles en un distrito de la ciudad de Florencia. Por su trabajo, conoce a todo el mundo y todo el mundo le conoce a él.El descubrimiento de una mujer desconocida, asesinada en los jardines de Boboli cerca del Palazzo Pitti, lleva a Guarnaccia a estrechar el circulo de los sospechosos. Esto quiebra la confianza entre el comisario y los conocidos del distrito.Un segundo asesinato viene a poner a prueba al comisario. Guarnaccia se siente culpable y desconfia de sus propios metodos. Agobiado por sus dudas y por la enrarecida relacion en el distrito el comisario Guarnaccia debera afrontar, primero su crisis personal para luego resolver el enigma de los asesinatos.

When it comes to motives for crime, the past can never be forgotten. Sara Hirsch is a nervous elderly spinster who still lives in the flat above a long-standing Florentine antiquities shop in which she was raised. Frightened, she calls Marshal Guarnaccia for help, sure that strangers have been in her apartment. The marshal knows she is a lonely old woman but he is preoccupied with an investigation into an Albanian prostitution ring. Before he can respond to her latest alarm, she is found dead. The marshal's search for the villains who precipitated her death brings him into confrontation with the past, with Jewish refugees from fascism, and with English expatriates, including the ailing heir to the elegant Villa L'Uliveto, Sir Christopher Wrothesly-

It's Christmas, but Irina's family don't have enough money to buy her the present she wants. Then Irina sees the wooden horse in the junk shop window and all she wants is to take it home with her. Irina is ad and lonely and he knows that the little horse is lonely too. But what Irina doesn't know is that this dusty little horse with the tattered mane is really an enchanted horsewho comes to life and takes Irina on magical journeys. Children's Choice for the Smarties Book Prize

Ésta es una historia de fantasmas distinta a las demás. Carrie, una joven de 11 años, se ve obligada a vivir con su familia en la vieja y polvorienta casa de su abuela enferma. Allí empieza a tener cambios repentinos de humor que sorprenden incluso a Katy, su mejor amiga. May, la chica que cuida de la abuela, cuenta historias de Irlanda, su tierra, y tambien historias de fantasmas... y Carrie empieza a ver el fantasma de una niña que siempre la mira triste. Pero cual sera su sorpresa cuando un dia descubra en el desvan un album de fotos de su propia familia y se entere de que, esa niña, tiene una historia que contar. En esa historia se le desvelaran muchos de los misterios de la familia y de la casa...