A Dionysian mystery in modern Rome

It’s spring in Rome. Nic Costa is just back at work after the cataclysmic events of A Season for the Dead, with a new partner, Gianni Peroni, a disgraced vice inspector bounced down to the ranks. And on the edge of the city an American couple make a discovery that will rock the city. As the jacket says…

The Villa of Mysteries appropriates the beauty and savagery of classical Rome and sets it off against the corruption and sleaze of the present day.

Teresa Lupo, a maverick pathologist, thinks she has the victim of an ancient pagan ritual on her hands. Inspector Leo Falcone, however, kno ws this case is recent history and one that desperately needs a solution. So begins an investigation that will take the police deep into the dark underworld of Rome’s most disturbing and sinister secrets.

Emilio Neri, the local mafia boss, seems to be one of the keys to the mystery, and he can’t even trust his own wayward son. Retired US mobster Vergil Wallis is another key player who’s reluctant to talk. Meanwhile, someone is trying very hard to kill the pathologist. And now another beautiful young woman has gone missing in familiar circumstances.

The second book in any series is always important. It needs to lay the foundations for the stories, and the characters, that follow. Unlike A Season for the Dead, this book shifts the viewpoint from beyond Nic Costa alone, to those around him, men and women with more years in law enforcement, more than a touch of cynicism in some cases… and a habit of catching their breath when Costa, bright, young, incorruptible, comes on the case.

This is a terrific novel by a fine emerging British talent. Toronto Globe and Mail

A complex and satisfying mystery from a master plot maker. Booklist

…imagine the deceptively relaxed atmosphere of Donna Leon’s Brunetti novels mixed with the darkness of Ian Rankin’s Rebus sequence. Excellent. Ink

A riveting tale of revenge brought to life by sharp characterisation and powerful dynamics. The Good Book Guide

Reviews of The Villa of Mysteries

Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail, Toronto writes…
If you missed A Season for the Dead, the first novel in this series set in modern Rome and featuring Inspector Leo Falcone, you’re in for a treat. This one’s even better and the cast of characters, some just touched on in the first book, is coming alive.
Hewson’s [...]

The Ostia connection

With my second Roman book I began to explore the city more. A lot of the locations here are fictional. But, when not studying Italian at my language school, I began to get out of the centro storico and explore some some of the archeological areas in the suburbs and beyond.
Here are some photos, including [...]