Giulio Leoni, Crusade of Darkness (2007).
Good Reads meta-data is 560 pages, rated 2.84 by 87 litizens.
Genre: Krimi; Species: Period (Medieval).
DNA: Italian.
Verdict: Suffocating detail.
Tagline: Spoiler: she Pope.
October 1301 the Florentine Council sends Dante (Durante) Alighieri to Rome to assess and, if possible, negotiate with Pope Boniface, who was busy redefining papal corruption. An uneasy peace exits in Florence between the Little-enders and the Big-enders, while Rome is seething. While he waits for an audience Dante falls into company of an affable, wealthy Senator with a comely daughter. Dante often has trouble keeping it in his robe.
In this heady atmosphere, strange things emerge. Very strange. That a representative of the Inquisition wants to hush things up, stimulates Dante to find out more with a great deal of to’ing and fro’ing in ruined Rome. Much. Too much.
A fantastic plot is slowly revealed.
This is the third and final instalment of the English translation of this series. There remain several untranslated titles in the original Italian.
I delitti della Medusa (Book 1)
The Mosaic Crimes (or I delitti del mosaico) (Book 2)
The Kingdom of Light (or Los crímenes de la luz) (Book 3)
La Crociata delle Tenebre (or La croisade des ténèbres) (Book 4)
La regola delle ombre (Book 5)
L’ultimo segreto di Dante (Book 8)