The Sandro Cellini Mysteries, Books 1-3

Three sinister crimes in one, set against the backdrop of the the faded decadence and small-town claustrophobia of contemporary Florence



'Brooding Italian noir' Independent on Sunday





'Suspense, atmosphere, and the architectural beauty of Florence... Fantastic' Irish Examiner





A Time of Mourning

Sandro 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 Florence's hard-drinking community of foreign arts students, and the suicide of an elderly Jewish architect. But as he investigates the circumstances more closely, Sandro's first case turns out to be darker and more complex than he could have imagined...

A Fine and Private Place

Just 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 Meadows's 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 Casentino's isolated hills

The Dead Season

Florence's 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.



Christobel Kent's previous books include A Party in San Niccolo, Late Season and A Florentine Revenge. She lives near Cambridge with her husband and five children.



Brooding Italian noir



Suspense, atmosphere, and the architectural beauty of Florence... Fantastic



Praise for A Fine and Private Place: Dark, gloomy and often sinister... An intelligent and convincing thriller with fleshed-out characters you want to meet again



Praise for A Time of Mourning: Elaborate and convincing... I gobbled it up - how could one help it? Such a potent sense of place and such gripping events



Thoughtful, lugubrious, adorable Florentine Sandro Cellini has become my comfort-detective of choice... He make me almost long for a cold so I can go to bed and read.