Black Bridge

JACKET NOTES:  Acclaimed by mystery readers, esteemed by critics, author Edward Sklepowich returns with a rich and suspenseful new adventure featuring two of the most memorable characters in detective fiction, expatriate American biographer Urbino Macintyre and his friend and patron, Barbara, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini.
It's late October in the city of canals, and the tourists have all departed. Urbino looks forward to his favorite season of the year and his usual invigorating visits with the Contessa. Theirs is a special friendship.
Or at least Urbino considers their friendship to be special, until the arrival in Venice of the Contessa's longtime friend, the charismatic actor Barone Roberto Casarotto-Re (Bobo), who comes to town to perform a one-man show in which he impersonates a deceased writer of somewhat dubious repute, Gabriele d'Annunzio.
When the Contessa summons Urbino from a therapeutic mud bath to look into threats made against the Barone, Urbino reluctantly responds to her call. He resents the evasive Barone, for whom the Contessa clearly has more than a passing affection, and he doubts that Bobo really wants his help. Of course it doesn't help much that the Barone seems to enjoy robust health while Urbino suffers from an ailment as dispiriting as the gout.
Urbino's sole consolation is that, if nothing else, the investigation into the threats against Bobo may be diverting, and at least the place of delivery is unusual-someone is sneaking the threatening missives into the Lion's Mouth (a marble box sculpted with a lion's head), at the Doges' Palace, a site where people left anonymous accusations during the medieval inquisitions.
No one is threatening to burn Bobo at the stake, but his demise may he certain if Urbino cannot find some answers to puzzling and troubling questions.
Who would wish Bobo serious harm? Or was Urbino's first instinct correct--that Bobo was not to he trusted and may himself he part of the intrigue? Or is Urbino too eager to think ill of his rival? When a murder occurs, however, Urbino must put aside all preconceived notions as he seeks desperately to find a killer and ensure his beloved Contessa’s safety.
Only on All Souls Eve, during a midnight procession of mourners across the darkly mysterious black bridge of boats, is all revealed in this richly nuanced gem of a suspense novel from a master of his craft.
(©Scribner)