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The Garden of Evil

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The Garden of Evil

By: David Hewson
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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Nominated for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2008.

In a hidden studio in Rome, an art expert is found dead in front of one of the most beautiful paintings Nic Costa has ever seen - an unknown Caravaggio masterpiece.

But before long, tragedy will strike Nic far closer to home. The main suspect's identity is known, but he remains untouchable, protected by a fleet of lawyers and a sinister cult known as the Ekstasists.

If Costa can crack the reasons for the cult's existence, he may well stand a chance of nailing his wife's killer. But the mystery will take him right back to Caravaggio himself and the reasons he had to flee Rome, all those centuries before.

©2008 David Hewson (P)2008 WF Howes Ltd Crime Thrillers Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Thriller Crime Rome
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David Hewson does his research and writes really well. A thief follows a mysterious but well dressed woman to a hidden studio. What happens there leads to the police being called. They find as part of the scene one of the most beautiful paintings that Nic Costa has ever seen - an unknown Caravaggio.

The main suspect's identity is known, but he remains untouchable - protected in his grand palazzo by a fleet of lawyers and a sinister cult known as the Ekstasists. The police are routed at every turn until Costa meets a Sister who knows a lot about Caravaggio. Can she help to unlock the case?

Excellent story with great narration. Kept me hooked and interested throughout.

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this book was very interesting. Took a little while to get into but then magic.

Complex but totally entertaining

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I didn't read them in order, this is the last one for me unless more are published
T his was the best one.
I will now try the other Hewson/ reichlin combos

My favorite Costa book

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I enjoy the Rome series from David Hewson and this is one of the best in my view. A good story line which holds the interest very well. David Hewson weaves a good plot and captures the atmosphere of Rome within the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and must give credit to Saul Reichlin for a very smooth narration.

Highly enjoyable

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This is a further instalment in the lives and work of policeman Costa and colleagues in David Hewson's Rome series. The author's fertile imagination, yet again, conjures up an extraordinary story that mixes police detection, forensic science, religion and Italian art that carries one along wanting to know what happens next in this long recording. The book stands alone as a great story, but you'll get more out of it if you've listened to the earlier books in this series and thus know some of the background to the main characters, who are brought wonderfully to life by Saul Reichlin's outstanding performance in reading the text. Performance being the operative word as he doesn't just read the words: he, using a full range of voices, dramatizes the book as if it's almost a audio play.
As a bonus you get to learn quite a bit about the Caravaggio and Italian art: sequences of discourse that relieves some of the tension created by the furious pace of other parts of the book.
Recommended.

Murder and art skilfully combined

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