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In Rome, the past never stays buried for long. When a dangerous man, Cold Hands, is released from psychiatric detention and quietly returns to the city, Commissioner Rosco and his team are drawn into a shadowy investigation where old crimes, hidden grudges, and new threats begin to intertwine. Beneath the surface of ordinary lives, secrets fester in hospital wards, along the Tiber, and in the darkest corners of the capital. Seemingly unrelated crimes gradually intertwine within a hypnotic, subterranean world of hidden Rome, mysterious lakes and ancient legends, revealing a larger pattern that is difficult to recognize. As tensions rise, Rosco must protect the fragile happiness he has finally found while facing a menace that knows how to wait, watch, and strike. Atmospheric, gripping, and rich in psychological tension, Cold Hands is a suspense novel set in a Rome of buried memories and lurking danger.
*Who will read the novel will discover the unbelievable seductive settings, on the shores of Rome’s underground lakes, in which a disturbed mind stalks its prey. They will enjoy this important step in the overall journey of the work, which intertwines serial crimes with murders of a different nature, even with the ancient legends that abound in the Eternal City.
Through the MultiDimensionCrime approach, the novel invites readers to enter a world where atmosphere, emotions, and events become almost tangible, entering the mind of the killer, the desperation of the victims, while investigating with the squad in increasing twists and suspense. The novel, set in the Eighties, is also published as an Extended Book, an innovative publishing format experienced by Morellini Editore, that enhances the reading experience. By scanning the QR code printed on the back cover, readers can explore the locations featured in the story, immerse themselves in its atmospheric world, and listen to a curated soundtrack of 1980s music that brings the novel’s setting to life. A journey that doesn’t end with the last page!
Enjoy an Excerpt
After watching the body vanish beneath the still waters, Cold Hands hurried back. He locked the gate with the padlock and, after making sure not a soul was at the tunnel’s exit, he shut the heavy iron door. The keys were in the dead man’s pockets. Another piece of evidence for the investigators: the orderly had gone down alone, for some mysterious reason.
He climbed the ramp and called the elevator, which, luckily, was free. Everything had gone off without a hitch, and he managed to slip inside before anyone appeared in the corridor—someone was pushing a noisy cart just then. As the doors closed, he caught a glimpse of the iron frame destined for the morgue. He pressed the button for his floor, and the elevator ride went uninterrupted. He stepped out and ducked quickly into the ward bathroom, unseen. He tore the document into tiny shreds, flushed them down the toilet, and went to wash his hands. Only then did a nurse enter.
“Ah, there you are! What brings you to this bathroom? Isn’t yours good enough?” the nurse joked. “Come on, I was looking for you for therapy.”
Cold Hands smiled and followed her.
*
It wasn’t supposed to go like this, but it doesn’t matter. I wanted justice, and in some way, I got it—even if it should have been me to give you death, not him. And I would have done it looking you in the eyes, to remind you what became of her.
About the Author 
Daniela Alibrandi is the author of successful thrillers and noirs in Italy and abroad. She was born in Rome, and lived and studied in the United States. In her professional life, she has been involved in cultural exchanges within the Council of Europe and the European Union. With her seventeen published novels, a Trilogy, an Anthology of short stories and seven English editions she is a prominent figure in the Italian literary scene. Her writings have often been featured in national newspapers and literary columns on RAI Italian television and radio broadcasts. The author, always present with her novels in the most important national bookfairs, has also won several national literary awards and the 2022 Women Art Week Award for her literary career. Some of her Italian editions are present in Harvard and Yale libraries as well as in New York Public Library.
For years and from various sources, such as literary critics and reviewers, this author’s style has been defined as multidimensional, until it was officialized as MultiDimensionCrime (Acronym MDCrime). A reading experience that forges imagination in a multi-dimensional way. In the complex and intertwined plots of her novels, which lead to sudden and unexpected twists, the characteristics of different strands are harmoniously blended. The reader follows the investigation to solve a murder and at the same time he amazingly enters the mind of the killer, reasoning alongside him, preparing the crime with him, and even partaking in the victims’ despair and terror. All in a growing suspense, both during the narration and in the final pages, when the reader often has to question all the beliefs he has developed during the reading. The settings the author chooses as well as the atmospheres are always amazing and palpable.
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