Splendor for Nothing: An Alice Carta Mystery

When local politics halts the important excavation of an ancient Roman villa, a tenacious archeologist travels to London for a funeral, and uncovers a web of international crime and violence. As mysterious deaths begin to pile up, Alice Carta joins efforts with a tough female Chief Inspector from Scotland Yard, and a suspicious investigator with his own agenda for solving the murders. The closer the unlikely team gets to identifying the perpetrator, the more bizarre the efforts to stop them become, forcing an uncomfortable interdependence among the three sleuths.

After her shipment of artifacts to the British Museum is hijacked, Alice breaks a code she finds in a letter from an old friend, revealing how deep and dark the corruption goes. She uncovers an international plot to destroy many lives, and she and her colleagues must race to stop it before the evidence disappears.

Set in contemporary London, this mystery is rich in sights and smells of the art, architecture and cuisines of the old city. A smart and unexpected debut thriller from author Elena Imbimbo.