On the wintry Tuscan coast, the wealthy elite retreat to their lavish holiday homes. But the season turns sinister when a couple vanishes from their heavily guarded villa, and the body of Count Delaude, a dubious aristocrat, washes up on the shore, battered to death.
The ensemble cast brims with intrigue: The count, a sponger and a sham had arrived under cover of dark with a beautiful young woman scheming to be a top model. Two comedians seclude themselves as they try to overcome a writing block. One depressive, Signor Monforti, a retired academic, tries to woo a beautiful divorcee, while another, a woman this time, prepares to leave her husband. Two elderly spinsters and their Filipina maid are aghast at the awful predictions of their Tarot pack. With the local police floundering, it falls to Monforti to unravel the mystery, triumphing as an amateur detective.
'Doyens of the Italian detective story, Fruttero and Lucentini, offer a perfect blend of the comedy of manners and the macabre; in short, very Mediterranean mysteries.' Tim Parks, author ofHotel MilanoandItalian Life
'A sophisticated thriller consistently funny. These are superbly deadpan observers of humanity.' Literary Review
