The Kingdom of Light by Giulia Leoni

An excellent historical mystery set in Fourteenth Century Florence featuring the poet Dante Alighieri as the sleuth. The story opens with Dante, in his role as Prior of the committee which rules the Florentine Republic, investigating a ship that has been discovered beached on the bank of the Arno. On board he finds the galley slaves dead still shackled to the oars, the officers poisoned in the Captains cabin and on the floor a strange mechanical object that has been smashed with an axe. Thus begins a complex and very entertaining story as Dante threads his way through the religious and political currents that swirl through the city. Leoni's characters and his descriptions of the old city are first rate and his narrative thundered along taking this reader with it. Part of the credit for this must go to the translation by Shaun Whiteside.