The Crime Writers'' Association Historical Dagger Winning AuthorCeremonial murder has returned to Florence. Only two men can end the destruction. Featuring Officer Cesare Aldo, Ritual of Fire is an atmospheric historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Italy.''Fast becoming a serious rival to CJ. Sansom and S. J. Parris'' – Historical Novel SocietyFlorence. Summer, 1538.A night patrol finds a wealthy merchant hanged and set ablaze in the city’s main square. More than mere murder, this killing is intended to put the fear of God into FlorenceForty years earlier, puritanical monk Girolamo Savonarola was executed the same way. Does this new killing mean his fanatical disciples are reviving the monk’s regime of holy terror?Cesare Aldo is busy hunting thieves in the Tuscan countryside, leaving Constable Carlo Strocchi to investigate the killingWhen another merchant is burned alive in public, the rich start fleeing to their country estates. But the Tuscan hills can also be danger