"Guarnaccia is one of fiction’s most satisfying detectives, a man whose domestic life is as fascinating as his cases . . . The series began with Death of an Englishman and is distinguished by its superb sense of place." —The Times' "One Hundred Masters of Crime"

Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Florentine Carabinieri wants to go south for Christmas to spend the holiday with his family in Sicily, but a retired Englishman living in Florence has been murdered. Who has shot Mr. Langley-Smythe in the back? The marshal must discover the identity of the criminal and the motive for the crime before he can take the train home for the holidays.