Amid the splendor of Florence, the Tuscan countryside, and the family villa and castle, Katharine Malaspiga Dexter falls in love with her charming cousin Alessandro, the Duke, although she knows he's married—and is the ocult mastermind of a insidious smuggling drug's operation. Katherine’s brother is dead. It was heroin that killed him, but Katherine can’t help but blame his death on the organized crime so rife in Italy. The drug trade may not make much money for the small-time pushers, the petty crooks, and the addicts. But for the men at the top—men like the Malaspigas, who run their yachts and their big houses on the profits of other people’s misery—drugs are big money. The Bureau of Narcotics are determined to nail these men once and for all. It’ll be a dangerous enterprise, full of deceit. And they want Katherine to help them.... Moving from New York and Beverly Hills to Rome and the burnished gold loveliness of Florence and the Tuscan hill towns, here is a riveting novel of a beautiful young woman who sets out to pay a debt of love to a dead brother, only to come face to face with her own heritage - a heritage of passion and death.
Author
Evelyn Anthony was the pen name of Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Stephens Ward-Thomas, Started her career as a writer of historical fiction, later switched to writing contemporary thrillers, often with an espionage theme. She met Michael Ward-Thomas on a double date in The Dorchester and both were attracted to each other.] He worked for the Consolidated African Selection Trust. They switched partners and were married a few months later. They bought Horham Hall in 1968 but found that it was costly and sold it in 1976 and moved to Naas, County Kildare where she had relatives. Increased income from her writing allowed her to buy Horham Hall back in 1982. In 1994 she became High Sheriff of Essex, the firswt woman in over 700 years to hold this office. In 1995 her daughter Kitty died of a heroin overdose, leading Evelyn to not write for another seven years. In 2004 her husband died of a stroke. She was survived by her children Susan, Anthony, Ewan, Christian and Luke as well as 16 grandchildren. NB:Some sources give Ms Anthonys year of birth as 1926. Additional information added from Wikipedia
