Praise for the Marshal Guarnaccia series:

"This elegant series, which began in 1981 with Death of an Englishman . . . is set in Florence, a city that glows in the Tuscan sun. . . . [His] sense of estrangement accounts for Guarnaccia's special perspective on strangers, those 'innocents' among the living and the dead."-The New York Times Book Review

"Lean, elegant prose that surpasses the best of Simenon, along with a puckish view of the Florentines from Guarnaccia's Sicilian perspective."-Kirkus Reviews

"The richest mystery here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit."-The Washington Post

"Great local atmosphere and rich characterizations."-Publishers Weekly

"A superb series. . . . A working-man's Maigret."-Booklist

"Crime fiction at its best."-The Sunday Times (London)

"Guarnaccia's Florence is a delightful place to visit."-Mystery Scene

Summoned by an aged woman to investigate mysterious noises in the vacant flat next to hers, Marshal Guarnaccia discovers a dying Dutch jeweler. The old lady had known him when he was a boy growing up in Florence. Could he have returned to the family home just to commit suicide? Or could the man be the victim of a cunning murderer?

Magdalen Nabb was born in Lancashire. She has lived in Florence since 1975 and has written twelve Marshal Guarnaccia mysteries. This is the second in the series.