Financiers of kings, godfathers of the Renaissance, arbiters of peace or war: Emperors in all but name. The first instalment in a trilogy charting the rise of Medici family as they become Masters of Florence.

Florence, 1429 Giovanni de' Medici is dead. A lifetime of shrewd investment, strategic alliance and sly manipulation saw Giovanni climb from mere money-lender to the top echelon of Florentine society. But success has left a slew of bitter enemies in his wake – and there are whispers his untimely demise wasn't accidental. Florence is a nest of vipers, and with the Medici family's wealth in the hands of Giovanni's untested sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, there are those who feel that now is the time to strike, to destroy the upstarts and seize their holdings. First in an award-winning, bestselling quartet charting ten generations of rise to power. Praise for Matteo Strukul: 'Strukul has a brilliant style and a rare imagination' TIM WILLOCKS 'One of the most important new voices in Italian crime fiction' JOE R. LANSDALE