David Hewson

"Roman police detective Nic Costa has been sent undercover to Italy's beautiful, remote Calabrian coast to bring in the head of the feared mob, the 'Ndrangheta, who has offered to turn state witness for reasons of his own. Hoping to reel in the biggest prize the state police have seen in years, the infamous Butcher of Palermo, Costa and his team are aware the stakes are high. But the constant deception is taking its toll. Out of their depth in a lawless...

Prepare for edge-of-your-seat suspense in this Thriller Short. Originally published in THRILLER 2 (2009), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler. In this intense Thriller Short from bestselling author David Hewson, a comfortable isolation from current events is totally shattered. The Circle line runs in a perpetual loop beneath the city of London from the prosperous west to the poorer east. Melanie Darma, a clerk at the...

In this dark and blackly humorous short story David Hewson explores another side to the Rome he's chronicled in his bestselling Nic Costa series. A servant to men for all her life, Mary Mackenzie is brought to Rome by her latest employer, the elderly Mr. Carstairs. In the Babington Tea Rooms she's introduced to the history of a painting that gives her pause for thought. Judith and Holofernes - The Holy Ferns, as Mary hears them - the story of one...

In this short story, Hewson focuses on one of Nic Costa's colleagues, Gianni Peroni. Gianni Peroni is at a loose end when he hears that two corpses have been found in the Tiber. At first glance, it seems that the similarities between the two men end there. But upon closer examination, Peroni notices something rather extraordinary. The men are both wearing exactly the same odd socks…

Newly-appointed District Sheriff Tristan Haraldsen and his wife Elsebeth are looking forward to a peaceful semi-retirement in the remote fishing village of Djevulsfjord on the stunningly beautiful island of Vagar. But when two boys go missing during the first whale hunt of the season, the repercussions strike at the heart of the isolated coastal community. As he pursues his investigations, Tristan discovers that the Mikkelsen brothers aren't the first...

When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day - murder is bad for tourism! The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents...

Bierce was a happily married cop with a bright future. Then on one sunny day in July his wife and their young son were savagely beaten to death and Bierce was convicted of their murders. Languishing on death row a long 23 years later, he still has no memory of the incident. Unexpectedly, inexplicably released just seconds before his execution, he teams up with the beautiful, feisty Alice Loong, who guides him through the confusing new world of the...

Amsterdam is bursting at the seams and the police are out in force, struggling to manage the crowds. Brigadier Pieter Vos is on duty with his young assistant, Laura Bakker, when the first grenade hits. In the chaos a young girl wearing a pink jacket is kidnapped. But she isn't the daughter of an Amsterdam aristocrat as the terrorists first thought. What is the life of one immigrant child worth in the greater political game emerging?

In a deserted artist's studio in the heart of Rome, detectives stumble upon a scene of shocking brutality: two bodies, freshly killed. Looming over them is a painting that bears all the hallmarks of a Caravaggio: a brilliantly colored canvas depicting a violent tableau of beauty and depravity. This grisly discovery sends Detective Nic Costa on a desperate chase through the streets of his city--a chase that will have devastating consequences.--From...