Ritual of Fire: From The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author

Written by D. V. Bishop

Narrated by Mark Meadows

The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author

'It's hard to think of a better guide than D. V. Bishop to the brutality and glamour of Renaissance Florence' - Andrew Taylor, bestselling author of The Royal Secret

'Fast becoming a serious rival to C. J. Sansom and S. J. Parris' – Historical Novel Society

Florence. Summer, 1538.

A night patrol finds a wealthy merchant hanged and set ablaze in the city’s main square. More than mere murder, this killing is intended to put the fear of God into Florence. Forty years earlier, puritanical monk Girolamo Savonarola was executed the same way. Does this new killing mean his fanatical disciples are reviving the monk’s regime of holy terror?

Cesare Aldo is busy hunting thieves in the Tuscan countryside, leaving Constable Carlo Strocchi to investigate the killing. When another merchant is burned alive in public, the rich start fleeing to their country estates. But the Tuscan hills can also be dangerous.

Growing religious fervour and a scorching heatwave drives the city ever closer to madness. Meanwhile, someone is stalking those powerful men who forged lifelong bonds in the dark days of Savonarola.

Unless Aldo and Strocchi work together, all of Florence will be consumed by an inferno of death and destruction.

Ceremonial murder has returned to Florence. Only two men can end the destruction. Featuring Officer Cesare Aldo, Ritual of Fire is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Italy.

Ritual of Fire is the third Cesare Aldo mystery, preceded by City of Vengeance and The Darkest Sin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781529096521

D. V. Bishop

D. V. Bishop is the pseudonym of award-winning writer David Bishop. His love for the city of Florence and the Renaissance period meant there could be only one setting for his historical thrillers. The first Cesare Aldo novel, City of Vengeance, won the Pitch Perfect competition at the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival and the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction Book. Book two in the series, The Darkest Sin, won the prestigious Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger. He teaches creative writing at Edinburgh Napier University.