Cirrus@Austlit

'An Italian general is found dead in his apartment Next to his body is a small card inscribed with a salamander in a bed of flames. Is it suicide or murder?

Dante Matucci, a captain in the Italian secret service, begins an investigation that leads him into a maze of political violence and intrigue. He meets the general's former mistress, Lili Anders, and embarks on a dangerous affair with the beautiful one-time spy. Soon he is drawn into the net of the great Salamander himself, millionaire industrialist Bruno Manzini, who is pitting his wits against the elaborate machinery threatening Italy's government.

'In a game of high stakes, how much is Matucci prepared to pay to survive?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Allen & Unwin, 2017)

'A ten minute joyride turns into manslaughter as two teenagers hit-and-run. This then meticulously traces the aftermath as Julius and Barry try to find the old woman whose dog they also killed, who may or may not have seen them. And finally it leads to murder as Barry becomes obsessed with the need to destroy all evidence. As taut as the youngsters' nerves and an indictment of the too typical community whose see-nothing-say-nothing attitude precipitates further disasters.'

Source: Kirkus Reviews.