Or the Bambino Dies

JACKET NOTES:  OR THE BAMBINO DIES hails the return of Peter Inchbald's popular hero, Franco Corti, in a riveting new tale of suspense, mystery, and danger.
Soon after Dr. Negroni of Florence insures his son's life with Lloyd's of London, six-year-old Salvatore disappears. He is Italy's--and Lloyd's--fourth kidnap victim in seven months, and the kidnappings are costing the insurance company millions. Lloyd's suspects it's an inside job, and they hire Franco Corti, former Scotland Yard Chief Inspector turned private eve, to untangle the web of treachery and corruption.
From the grim' streets of London to the villas and wooded hillsides of the Florentine super-rich, Corti is drawn into a deadly psychological game of cat and mouse. He enters a world of Mafia kingpins and political terrorists, where money is lifeblood and murder, a way of life.
The urgency of Corti's investigation grows b the hour. As he draws closer to a solution, he learns that the price--if he should fail--will be paid with the boy's blood. Corti faces a haunting deadline--a deadline which is spelled out in the tape-recorded plea of the frightened six-year-old crying for his clog, his mother, his life...
(© Crime Club)