Crime Rome

Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome's rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became.

A scandal is threatening to engulf the popular spa town of Aquae Sulis (modern-day Bath). The wife of Ruso's best friend, Valens, has been found dead in the sacred hot spring, stabbed through the heart. Fearing the wrath of the goddess and the ruin of the tourist trade, the temple officials are keen to cover up what's happened. But the dead woman's father is demanding justice, and he's accusing Valens of murder. If Valens turns up to face trial, he will risk execution. If he doesn't, he'll lose his children.

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.

In Rome's crowded Campo dei Fiori, a woman rushes up to two carabinieri lounging in their sunglasses and uniforms, insisting that her 16-year-old daughter has just been abducted. Detective Nic Costa sees the scene unfold and intervenes. Because Costa knows what the two officers don't: that in the morgue at Rome's police headquarters, a forensic pathologist is examining the strange, mummified corpse of another girl, whose disappearance and death bear haunting similarities.

Murder, blackmail and drug dealing on the Tiber combine in one of Ngaio Marsh’s liveliest and most evocative novels. When their guide disappears mysteriously in the depths of a Roman basilica, the members of Mr. Sebastian Mailer’s tour group seem strangely unperturbed. But when a body is discovered in an Etruscan sarcophagus, Superintendent Alleyn, in Rome incognito on the trail of an international drug racket, is very much concerned.

It begins on one of Rome's least-known hills, the Aventino, in the public piazza fronting the mansion of the Knights of Malta. There, a curious keyhole to the knights' estate reveals an astonishing view, a direct line across the Tiber to the dome of St. Peters in the distance.

When Andrew - a second-hand-book dealer - comes across a pile of photographs from police archives, he decides to exhibit them. But then the gallery is raided the day before the opening, and the photos seized with surprising violence. It soon becomes clear that someone, somewhere, wants to keep the images hidden. Who? Why? And who - in a world where kidnap, subterfuge and even murder are the norm, and where no one is safe or above suspicion - can Andrew turn to for help?

Drückende Hitze lastet auf ganz Rom–und doch hat der Polizist Nic Costa das Gefühl, sein Blut müsse gefrieren: In einer Kirche ist die Leiche eines Mannes gefunden worden, gehäutet wie der Märtyrer Bartholomäus. Der vermeintliche Täter ist mit seiner blutigen Trophäe in die Vatikanbibliothek geflohen und wird dort erschossen–vor den Augen seiner ehemaligen Freundin. War dies eine zufällige Begegnung, oder ist die Dozentin Sara Farnese tiefer in den Fall verwickelt?

It's AD 123, and the sun is shining on southern Gaul. Ex-military medic Ruso and his British wife, Tilla, are back after a long absence - but it's not the reunion anyone had hoped for. Ruso's brother has left him in charge of a farm he has no idea how to manage, a chronic debt problem, and a gaggle of accident-prone small children. Meanwhile his sister Flora has run away to rescue her boyfriend, who's accused of murdering a wealthy guest at a party.

A new civil war has begun: with the emperor Pertinax's murder Marcus and his protector Scaurus have escaped Rome, seeking sanctuary for their familia in the East. But they are soon pressed back into service by Septimius Severus, the ruthless commander who has seized the imperial capital and who holds the military balance of power over his two rivals. Niger, the would-be emperor in the East is on the march with six legions, and Scaurus's legion is ordered to Thrace as a sacrificial advance guard, tasked with delaying them. Whatever the cost.

Secrets have cloaked Renee Dutten's entire existence. Placed in the New York foster care system as an infant, she was moved from family to family until high school graduation. With a bright future as a hairstylist in a posh salon, fate steps in and pulls the rug out from under her again. An eyewitness to a mob hit, the Federal government becomes her guardian. From foster care to witness protection, with only a semblance of normalcy in between, she now has a higher degree of madness with a new identity as Chloe Barnard, a new address in Ohio, and nothing familiar to cling to. The Feds tuck ...

One fine day, A.D. 70, Sosia Camillina quite literally runs into Marcus Didius Falco on the steps of the Forum. It seems Sosia is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after a quick and dirty rescue, P.I. Falco wants to know why.

It's approaching Christmas in Rome and snow is falling in a way that only happens every 20 or 30 years. The city is soon paralyzed by an unseasonably icy grip, and in the dark corners of the Pantheon a grim and mysterious story begins to unfold.

Rome: maverick military historian Myles Munro is on holiday with girlfriend and journalist Helen Bridle. He's convinced a bomb is about to be detonated at the American embassy. New York: a delivery van hurtling through Wall Street blows up, showering the sky with a chilling message: America is about to be brought down like the Roman Empire.

A young girl has mysteriously disappeared in Rome. On the case are Clemente and Marcus, two members of the ancient Penitenzeri: a unique team, linked to the Vatican, and trained in the detection of true evil. Sandra, a brilliant forensics expert with a tragic past, is also working on the case. When their paths cross, they uncover a terrible secret world, hidden in the dark recesses of Rome....

Introducing DI Marnie Rome, Someone Else's Skin will enthral fans of Val McDermid and Mo Hayder. Devastating, brilliant and heralding an outstanding new talent in crime fiction, this is the crime debut of the year.Some secrets keep you safe, others will destroy you... Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won't share with anyone.

On their private island, the Arcangelo family defies the world: living in a decaying palazzo, making glass in a terrifying, archaic furnace, watching their absurd exhibition hall sink into disrepair. But now the world is coming to their dying outpost in a crumbling corner of a Venice that tourists never see. Police boats and vaporetti bring investigators, curiosity seekers, and one man who plans to own the property himself. With two family members consumed by the foundry fire, both mystery and opportunity have been bared to the bone.

Jack Morgan is in Rome celebrating the opening of the new local Private office, when the party takes a deadly turn. Private agent Matteo Ricci is found at the party standing over the body of a dead priest with a gun in hand, swearing he did not kill the man. As Jack tries to prove Matteo's innocence, he uncovers a much deadlier conspiracy - which leads straight to the heart of the Vatican. With corruption closing in on all sides, Jack must decide who he can trust before the city falls.

Compulsive, gripping and dark, Never Be Broken is the stunning new novel in the Marnie Rome series, for fans of Peter James, Mark Billingham, and Val McDermid. Children are dying on London's streets. Frankie Reece, stabbed through the heart outside a corner shop. Others recruited from care homes, picked up and exploited, passed like gifts between gangs. They are London's lost. Then Raphaela Belsham is killed. She's 13 years old, her father is a man of influence, from a smart part of town. And she's white. Suddenly, the establishment is taking notice.

Alvie Knightly flees Sicily for a suite at the Ritz after her not-so-playful sibling rivalry ends in murder. Beautiful, spoiled Beth may be gone, but Alvie's discovering what happens when you steal your twin's identity. Especially now that Beth's body has been found. The police aren't the only ones Alvie has to worry about. Her hot new boyfriend has vanished, along with all of their stolen riches. But Alvie has never shied away from a challenge. She pursues the traitor to Rome in a life-or-death game of cat and mouse. Can she get revenge before her own crimes catch up with her?