David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (2020)

From the Publisher:
There's no rest for the wicked...
While Rome is sweltering in the height of summer, a serial killer is on the loose. Sara Farnese is working in the Vatican library, when a man bursts in intent on showing her the contents of his bloodied bag, until a guard shoots him. But why was the man targeting Sara? Determined to find answers, Sara's path crosses with a young up-and-coming Roman detective, Nic Costa. He's determined to track down the dangerous killer behind this bizarre and brutal murder and to protect Sara from becoming the next victim...

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. There's no rest for the wicked... The First Nic Costa Mystery. Black Thorn, ISBN: 9781838850647 (January, 2020), 480 p., £8.99, eBook £4.99.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (2018)

From the Publisher:
A shooting in the silent Vatican reading room leads to a horror beyond imagining for Detective Nic Costa and his team.
Whilst Sara Farnese pours over ancient texts in the silent Vatican reading room, a brutal murder is taking place in a nearby church. Then suddenly a crazed man enters the Vatican carrying a bloodied bag. He walks up to Sara's desk. He has something he would like her to see...

Soon Sara is inextricably linked to a series of horrific and cunning murders, each one representative of the death of a martyr of the Church. Into this charged climate enter Detectives Nic Costa and Luca Rossi, enlisted to track down the killer, and to protect Sara from the horrors he is capable of. It seems that at any time she could be the next chosen sacrifice.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. An Italian Mystery featuring Roman Detective Nic Costa. Severn House, ISBN: 9781847519399 (October, 2018), 480 p., £12.99, $17.95.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (USA 2005)

From the Publisher:
In a hushed Vatican Reading Room, the scene is shocking: a crazed professor shot dead after brandishing evidence of a grisly crime. Moments later, two bodies are found in a nearby church, each with a gruesome calling card from their killer.

Detective Nic Costa is one of the first on the scene. A cop who barely looks his twenty-seven years, Nic soon meets a woman who will dominate both his thoughts -- and his investigation. A cool, beautiful professor of early Christianity, Sara Farnese was in the Vatican Library on that fateful day, a witness to her colleague's outburst and grotesque death.

And as more bodies are found, her role becomes even more baffling... because each victim had intimately known Sara, a woman whose history becomes more lurid and unfathomable with each revelation. Until the case takes a sudden, strange turn -- and the secrets of a woman, a killer, and a city begin to unravel... with devastating consequences...

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. Dell Publishing, ISBN: 0440242118 (December, 2004), 469 p., $6.99.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
The first in Hewson's atmospherically beguiling Italian crime series set in Rome, and featuring Caravaggio-loving Detective Nic Costa.
'Stefano's left arm, the one holding the weapon, swept the table, swept everything on it... She was quiet, waiting, which was, his eyes seemed to say, what he wanted. Then Stefano lifted up the bag to the height of the desk, turned it upside down, let the contents fall on the table and said, 'The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."'

Whilst Sara Farnese pours over ancient texts in the silent Vatican reading room, a brutal murder is taking place in a nearby church. Then suddenly a crazed man enters the Vatican carrying a bloodied bag. He walks up to Sara's desk. He has something he would like her to see...

Soon Sara us inextricably linked to a series of horrific and cunning murders, each one representative of the death of a martyr of the Church. Into this climate enter Detectives Costa and Rossi, enlisted to track down the killer, and to protect Sara from the horrors he is capable of. It seems that at any time she could be the next chosen sacrifice...

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. Pan, ISBN: 0330493639 (April, 2004), 476 p., £6.99.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (USA 2004)

From the Publisher:
In a hushed Vatican reading room, the scene was shocking: a crazed professor shot dead after brandishing evidence of a grisly crime. Moments later, two bodies are found in a nearby church, each with a gruesome calling card from the killer. Thus begins David Hewson's elegant and electrifying new novel. Set amidst a bizarre killing spree in modern Rome, it is a bewitching blend of history and drama, sensuality and suspense.

As the August heat takes Rome in its fiery grip, the news of two brutal murders holds the city in thrall. And as the media gathers and Vatican officials close ranks, a young detective is sent to the forefront of the case. Nic Costa is the son of an infamous Italian Communist, a connoisseur of Caravaggio , and a cop who barely looks his 27 years of age. Thrust into the heart of a killing spree that will rattle his city down to its ancient bones, Nic meets a woman who will soon dominate both his consciousness and his investigation.

A cool, beautiful professor of early Christianity, Sara Farnese was in the Vatican library on that fateful day, a witness to her colleague's strange outburst and death. But her role will become even more puzzling as more bodies are found: Each victim killed in a gory tableau of Christian martyrdom. And each victim had intimately known Sara, whose silence Costa cannot quite crack and whose carnal history becomes more lurid and unfathomable with every revelation.

Soon, a nightmarish chase is implicating politicians and priests -- while at the heart of the matter remains the woman Costa is both investigating and guarding. Wanting to believe in Sara's innocence, Nic still cannot turn his eyes from the truths he is uncovering. Even as the secrets of a woman, a killer and a city begin to unravel... with devastating consequences.

A beguiling mystery, a dazzling treat for the senses, and a fascinating tour of the streets and alleyways of Rome, Nic Costa's relentlessly suspenseful debut is a masterpiece of suspense fiction.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. Delacorte Press, ISBN: 0385337221 (March, 2004), 386 p., $21.95.

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Whilst Sara Farnese pours over ancient texts in the silent Vatican reading room, a brutal murder is taking place in a nearby church. Then suddenly a crazed man enters the Vatican carrying a bloodied bag. He walks up to Sara's desk. He has something he would like her to see...

Soon Sara us inextricably linked to a series of horrific and cunning murders, each one representative of the death of a martyr of the Church. Into this climate enter Detectives Costa and Rossi, enlisted to track down the killer, and to protect Sara from the horrors he is capable of. It seems that at any time she could be the next chosen sacrifice...

David Hewson: A Season for the Dead. Macmillan, ISBN: 1405000457 (March, 2003), 469 p., £12.99.