A Known Evil: A gripping debut serial killer thriller full of twists you won’t see coming
A serial killer stalks the streets of Rome…A gripping debut crime novel and the first in a groundbreaking series, from a new star in British crime fiction. Perfect for fans of Ian Rankin.A city on lockdown.In the depths of a freakish winter, Rome is being torn apart by a serial killer dubbed The Carpenter intent on spreading fear and violence. Soon another woman is murdered – hammered to death and left with a cryptic message nailed to her chest.A detective in danger.Maverick Detective Inspectors Rossi and Carrara are assigned to the investigation. But when Rossi’s girlfriend is attacked – left in a coma in hospital – he becomes the killer’s new obsession and his own past hurtles back to haunt him.A killer out of control.As the body count rises, with one perfect murder on the heels of another, the case begins to spiral out of control. In a city wracked by corruption and paranoia, the question is: how much is Rossi willing to sacrifice to get to the truth?
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © Aidan Conway 2018
Cover design by Dominic Forbes © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com
Passage from I Sette Messaggeri © Eredi Dino Buzzati
Published by arrangement with The Italian Literary Agency.
Courtesy of the heirs.
Aidan Conway asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and
incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities
is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008281168
Version: 2018-01-25
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Table of Contents
Theyâd found the body in the entrance to their block of flats where, sometimes, bleary-eyed, they would avoid treading on the dog shit some neighbour couldnât care less about cleaning up â teenagers on the way to school at eight in the morning. Theyâd been the first to leave the building, apparently, although it was now known the victim didnât live in the same complex. Paola Gentili, mother of three, a cleaner, on her way to work. Multiple blows to the cranium. No sign of sexual assault. No attempt to appropriate money or valuables. No sign of a struggle.
So, it seemed she had been taken completely unawares. Better for her. Husband had been informed. Distraught. Had given them the few preliminary details they required without the need for any formal interview. That would have to wait until they got the go-ahead from the presiding magistrate. But the guy seemed clean enough going by the checks the new âprivatizedâ IT system had given them in record time. What social media access she had was regular and only moderately used. Meanwhile, theyâd started looking into the other stuff. No particular leads. No affairs. No money issues. No links to known families in the organized sector. Worked in a ministry in the centre of the city. No unexplained calls. Just waiting now on the forensics guys to come up with something more concrete to work with.
Inspector Michael Rossi had only just driven through the gates in the Alfa Romeo. He had known immediately that something big was coming by the urgency of Carraraâs steps as heâd emerged from the baroque archway leading from the Questuraâs offices to the car park. If Rossi had bothered to switch his phone on before it would have got him out of bed, what? Twenty minutes earlier? But that wouldnât have saved anyoneâs life. Now, the debris of takeaway espressos and sugar sachets violated the bare desk space separating them in his office. Their own cleaner had just been in, chatty as ever, oblivious as yet to the news.
âOther than that,â said Carrara, âweâre totally in the dark on this one. But it does look like thereâs a possible pattern emerging.â
