La Cingana (The Gypsy): A Reginaldo Morosini Novella and Other Short Stories

Crime never takes a rest in 16th Century Venice. The Council of Ten again turns to its special investigator Reginaldo Morosini to solve those crimes in the floating City in which the Council of Ten takes special interest. In two novellas and four short stories, Reginaldo deals with death, foreign intrigue, politics, human depravity and the everyday relationships of those whose lives intersect on the calle and canals of Venice. The poisoned bodies of a young man and woman are recovered from a shallow grave on a small island in the lagoon. The dead body being used by an artist's studio for the study of anatomy is discovered to have been killed by a gunshot. An aspiring honest courtesan is found dead in what has the appearances of a suicide. The circumstances leading to the brutal rape of a young girl defies understanding. A baker's death is tied to the election of the doge years before. A young man's mental condition is the product of an unspeakable act. Each of the stories is richly nuanced in the everyday life of 16th Century Venice, intelligent investigative deduction and the sociology and psychology of crime.