Dying Words

Is it true that creative people who have been given great gifts by God have to pay a terrible price for them?

Giacomo Cassano, a thirteenth century writer and philosopher, thought so. He held other beliefs too. Beliefs that the Catholic Church found so abhorrent they had Cassano blinded and his tongue cut out to silence him forever.

However, Cassano's teachings have now reached across the centuries. Bestselling biographer Megan Hunter's new book about Cassano looks set to be as successful as her other books about Caravaggio and Cassano's contemporary and pupil, Dante. But as she embarks on a publicity tour, Megan finds her book attracting attention for the wrong reasons when her editor is found horrifically murdered.

For Detective Inspector David Birch, the murder is puzzling. There is no evidence of forced entry. No fingerprints. Nothing to link another human being with the death. The crime scene divulges only a destroyed copy of Megan's book about Cassano. Pieces of her book are everywhere, along with the pulverized pages of the latest blockbuster by horror writer John Paxton.

Logic dictates that the police establish whether there are any links between the two writers, but DI Birch begins to suspect there is more evidence elsewhere. Somewhere not normally connected with murder investigations. As he sifts through the meagre evidence and struggles with the mounting death toll, he begins to find links he could never have imagined. Secrets he would never have dreamed of and answers beyond not just belief but sanity itself...