Valerio Varesi has been the Parma correspondent for La Stampa and La Repubblica. River of Shadows was the first of a series of thrillers featuring Commissario Soneri, now the central figure of one of Italy's most popular television dramas. It was followed in English translation by The Dark Valley, Gold Frankincense and Dust and A Woman Much Missed.
Sinisterly atmospheric, cunningly plotted . . . Shot through with lightning flashes of sardonic humour. - Glasgow Herald. A master storyteller. - Independent. Varesi's plotting is sound and his pacing good. Where he raises his game from the common crime ruck, however, is in his almost painterly evocation of a wretchedly dark atmosphere and character. He could be the long-lost heir to Caravaggio. - Glasgow Herald. Excellent . . . Compellingly reveals an authentic darkness at the heart of modern Italy. - Spectator.