Ritual of Fire : Pan Books : 9781529096507 : 1529096502 : 15 Feb 2024 : The Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger Winning Author Winner of the 2024 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel Ceremonial 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 C. J. Sansom and S. J. Parris' - Historical Novel Society Florence. 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 Florence. Forty 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 killing.