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Five Star Mystery Series
by Alana White
Romance and intrigue abound in The Sign of the Weeping Virgin, an evocative historical mystery that brings the Italian Renaissance gloriously to life.
In 1480 Florentine investigator Guid Antonio Vespucci and his nephew Amerigo are tangled in events that threaten to destroy them and their beloved city.
Marauding Turks abduct a beautiful young Florentine girl and sell her into slavery. And then a holy painting begins weeping in Guid Antonio's family church. Are the tears manmade or a sign of God s displeasure with Guid Antonio himself?
In a finely wrought story for lovers of medieval and renaissance mysteries everywhere, Guid Antonio follows a spellbinding trail of clues to uncover the thought-provoking truth about the missing girl and the weeping painting's mystifying - and miraculous? - tears all pursued as he comes face to face with his own personal demons.
"White creates richly evocative descriptions of Renaissance-era Florence certain to please the amateur historian and armchair tourist." - Publishers Weekly
"White's debut Renaissance mystery is overflowing with historical details and fascinating subplots." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. One hopes that White's clever tale, meticulously researched and pleasingly written, is the first in a series that will bring Florence and its many famous denizens to life." - Kirkus
This information about The Sign of the Weeping Virgin was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alana White's fascination with the Italian Renaissance led to her first short historical mystery fiction, then to a full-length novel, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin. Set in Renaissance Florence, The Sign of the Weeping Virgin features lawyer Guid'Antonio Vespucci and his adventurous young nephew, Amerigo Vespucci, as they investigate crime in Renaissance Florence. Alana's articles and book reviews appear regularly in Renaissance Magazine and the Historical Novels Review. In young adult+ books, she is the author of Come Next Spring, a novel set in 1940s Appalachia, and a biography, Sacagawea: Westward with Lewis and Clark. She is currently working on her second Guid'Antonio Vespucci mystery.
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