The picture possessed a frightful beauty, one which burned so brightly that, once witnessed, could never be unseen ...Even the presence of two corpses, one clearly murdered, the other dead through strange and suspicious circumstances, did nothing to distract their attention from the canvas ...In a hidden studio in an area of Rome where the Vatican liked to keep an eye on the city's prostitutes, an art expert from the Louvre is found dead in front of one of the most beautiful paintings that Nic Costa has ever seen -- an unknown Caravaggio masterpiece. But before long tragedy will strike Nic far closer to home. The main suspect's identity is known, but he remains untouchable -- protected in his grand palazzo by a fleet of lawyers and a sinister cult known as the Ekstasists. If Costa and his team can crack the reasons for the cult's existence, he may well stand a chance of nailing the double-killer. But the mystery will take him right back to Caravaggio himself and the reasons he had to flee Rome all those centuries before ...
- ISBN10 0330435965
- ISBN13 9780330435963
- Publish Date 5 September 2008 (first published 1 January 2008)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 27 August 2015
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Pan Books
- Edition Unabridged edition
- Format Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
- Pages 544
- Language English