This is the second in the Chiara Corelli Mystery series. It will be published February 2019.
THE BLOOD RUNS COLD
Corelli and Parker team up for their second case, the murder of Leonardo (Nardo) del Balzo, a gay man found in his apartment posed on his back with a rosary in his folded hands and the smell of incense still in the air. Nardo is the son of the Italian Ambassador to the United Nations and works for him in the delegation. When Corelli and Parker go to break the news, Nardo’s mother shows little emotion and his father seems more focused on their playing down his homosexuality in the media, than concerned about his death. Then, not knowing Corelli speaks fluent Italian, the ambassador says to his wife in Italian, “‘It’s for the best. Now he can’t spoil our chance to be Prime Minister.’”
After interviewing Nardo’s coworkers, they find that Nardo and his father, the Ambassador, had a huge argument and Nardo threatened to derail his father’s chances to become the prime minister of Italy. The ambassador becomes the prime suspect, a delicate situation for Corelli who is already walking a tightrope in the department where she is being ostracized.
The game changes, however, when another gay man, a friend of Nardo’s, is murdered and posed in exactly the same way. Corelli and Parker begin to consider alternatives, then a third friend of Nardo’s is murdered and placed in the same pose. Now they are looking at a serial killer.
The race is on to find the murderer.