Murders in the Roman Style C. M. Veaute-Adventure Novel Prize, Monique Veaute

Inspector Carlo Barone has just been transferred to Rome. In a previous life, he fought the Mafia in Sicily. But he broke down; his closest colleague was tortured to death, and he almost left the police force. Now in charge of heritage protection, he arrives in the Eternal City feeling calm, convinced that he will only have to deal with art thefts. But he is quickly caught up in brutality: a heinous murder has been committed in the underground passages of Villa Medici; the body of a young boy has been decapitated and tortured, abandoned in a most sinister staging. Barone and his new team will have to investigate in this mythical place amidst a gallery of characters as extravagant as they are unsettling.
Blending art and crime fiction with obvious delight, the Veaute sisters deliver a baroque and rich debut novel.