The Florentine Cypher

KATE SEES AURAS THAT PREDICT DEATH...in

Carrie Bedford's slightly psychic take on the traditional British mystery all wrapped up in a DaVinci Code-like puzzle...

LOOK OUT, DEATH! YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!

London architect Kate Benedict's weekend begins with "Follow that cab!" and takes us off and running on an international adventure, ticking off picturesque locales from London to a Venetian palace and the Tuscan countryside, pausing just long enough for a quick tour of Florence's Duomo, with danger dogging every step.

What began as a quiet Friday night dinner date with an old childhood friend turns into a manhunt when Kate arrives at the rendezvous just in time to find her friend Ethan leaving in a taxi. Kate is alarmed to see the distinctive swirling pattern above his head that only she can see, and that she has come to recognize as a portent of imminent and mortal danger. When Ethan's disappearance is followed by a series of cryptic text messages, Kate goes looking for him at his sister's house in Florence, Italy, but it's immediately clear that whatever danger threatened Ethan in London has followed Kate to Italy--his sister Claire has a matching aura! Soon Kate and Claire are on the run, constantly watched and followed, repeatedly threatened and attacked ... never knowing who they can trust. Apparently not even the carabinieri, who are now following them also!

An ancient book that was given to Claire and Ethan's grandfather after the close of World War II holds the key to Ethan's disappearance and the source of the danger indicated by Claire's ever-present aura. Until all the pieces come together - the book, a hidden key, a diagram, and a cypher that Kate will need help decoding - Kate and her friends are safe; but then their tormentors - whoever they are - will have no reason to keep them alive.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced action and exotic locales of The Florentine Cipher. It is an edge-of-your-seat page turner." --Terri Reid, author of the Mary O'Reilly Paranormal Mystery Series.

"An intense, edge of your seat mystery, with just the right amount of paranormal twist I'm always looking for." --M.P. McDonald, author of the Mark Taylor Mystery Series

WHO ELSE WILL LIKE IT: Anyone looking for a new, fresh female sleuth, as well as fans of paranormal suspense, traditional (yet not too cozy) stories, contemporary British women detectives like the ones found on the BBC's ROSEMARY AND THYME and MURDER IN SUBURBIA, and mysteries with a metaphysical twist, like Kay Hooper's Bishop Files series, Iris Johansen's THE PERFECT WITNESS, and Heather Graham's Krewe of Hunters books.


Genre: Mystery