I have been waiting perhaps for too long for this new release. Still, I am sure this wait will pay off as in this period I had the time to bring this first book of the Mysteries of Commissario Scala to its best for the reader’s enjoyment and or my satisfaction of having produced something I’m proud of.

This series is set in Rome, the eternal city, a real melting pot of cultures, one of Europe’s most iconic places. Rome is a living museum, but just like all the most beautiful things in this world, it hides a dark side: the rate of criminality. In this context, the figure of a detective sticks from the crowd, and it’s not a whatever detective.

We’re talking about Commissario Maurizio Scala, hot-tempered, stubborn, and a lover of good cuisine. Concerning the last point, there’s a typical Italian food he loves among everything else: Porchetta sandwich, which is a sandwich made of bread and pork slow-cooked on coals. If you ever go to Rome, don’t forget to taste this delicacy. Porchetta sandwich is the favorite street food in Rome, and you will find kiosks selling it almost at every corner.

To help Commissario Scala, there’s Forensic Inspector Leonardo Romizi. They are friends since high school, and they will never miss a chance to tease each other. The chemistry between those two characters carries the story forward.

On Scala’s team, we will find officer Carlo Silvani and senior officer Sandra Milani offering the most precious help during the investigations and brainstorming. Then there’s the murder, the suspects, and the witness who will bring the investigation to an intricated network of lies and deceptions, I’m sure you’ll love.

So the appointment is for 05.20.2021 on Amazon, and stay tuned for the new release! You don’t want to miss this one.

Coming up next is a new release, a dark crime thriller.

I have previously blogged about the new series I am going to publish somewhere next year, but I have another project on its way to publication. 

It will be a dark crime thriller that will bring you into the world of jewel dealers. The title (at least for the moment) is “The merchant of pearls.”

The idea comes from a document I have been watching about cursed jewels. The first thing that comes to our minds is the pharaoh’s curse, which inspired many horror and thriller novelists. 

Going a bit into details, there are many other more or less known items. For example, we can cite the ‘Hope Diamond,’ the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the Delhi purple sapphire, the Black Orlov, and many others. 

Each of these stones seems to have brought nothing else but disgraces to those who owned them. The question I tried to raise with this novel is: Is it just a marketing strategy, or there’s some foundation of truth?

To be honest, the answer isn’t essential. What is important is that whether because of magic or because of a well-planned marketing strategy, those items are highly desired by collectors.

People are ready to spend a fortune beyond the stone’s market price, but this is not the question of purchasing a beautiful product of nature; it’s challenging the fate and the possibility to own something with a remarkable history.

The price is often placed on the historical value or on the excitement. 

As I’m pre-editing it, I am considering the main character. For this reason, it came to my mind the famous quote of Jessica Rabbit:

My main character, Edward Sherwood, is the last heir of many generations of jewelers and goldsmith. Eldridge Sherwood started the business dealing with cursed stone back in 1802 when the Sherwoods Jeweler’s shop opened its proficient business. 

Edward, differently than Jessica Rabbit, is not a saint, and it’s not really just drawn that way. Nevertheless, like the yin and yang, there’s still something that can save him from damnation. That is represented by the catalyst character, his partner, Byron, a young man he met during his educational journey.

Another catalyst is one of the cooperators, Mikhail Orlov, a former henchman of a Russian mob family, now working as a fixer, owning a bodyguarding company. His story will make him reconsider his doings, but will it be enough to change his nature?

To this question, I am afraid I can’t give an answer, but I promise a story full of twists and turns, heartbreaking stories, gorgeous cityscapes, marvelous gems, and intriguing characters.

Besides working on the pre-editing, I’m also thinking about the cover, and I hope to show you something about it in the next weeks. As I know by experience, this is the most critical and challenging task of the whole process.

I do have a couple of ideas, and as usual, I will start with a few elements that will become the key to the picture. I will need to include a Russian cityscape, a reference to the pearl, or gemstones.

Since I haven’t yet started to draw it, I will have to leave the anticipations to another time. Stay tuned for the next release coming up!

The Man from the Mist is the new crime mystery novel. It was released on the 24th of July.

Framed for murder by the law. Chased by criminal organizations. The key to solve the mystery and save his life could be the superheroes he likes to draw.

Newspaper editor Dave Stanford is convinced he’s invisible. Dull and shy, nobody notices him.

But at night, in his ratty apartment, Dave lives out his dream in his drawings, creating a world of superheroes, where he can belong.
A series of murders rock Dave’s neighborhood, targeting the criminals that lurk in the shadows.

The murderer is a mysterious avenger, a man who comes out of the mists of the night to protect terrorized victims.

A man described by witnesses as wearing a coat and a fedora hat. A man they believe is Dave Stanford.

Disturbing questions are raised when Dave finds an old suitcase in his wardrobe, containing his grandfather’s belongings, articles that are linked to the murders like a coat and a fedora hat.
Who’s trying to frame him? What secret is hidden in his past?

On the run from both the police and the local criminal gangs, will Dave uncover the truth of the mysterious avenger, or will he become another victim of the man from the mist?