Description: "Luminous...a tightly spun thriller...Mr. De Santis effortlessly incorporates important historical events (the building of the tower and the World's Fair) into his narrative, as well as capturing the turn-of-the-century uneasiness over the emergence of the machine age." - Wall Street Journal "[An] outstanding puzzler. . . . De Santis adroitly explores such issues as the difference between image and reality while providing intelligent and entertaining discussions of alternate approaches to detection." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A sophisticated whodunit ..." - Daily News "Entertaining .. . the [detectives and acolytes'] musings on the art of detecting provide many of the book's most memorable passages." - Time Out New York "[A] beguiling historical whodunit . .. ." - New York Times Book Review "Against the backdrop of the 1889 World's Fair, detective's assistant Sigmundo Salvatrio travels to Paris in his master's stead for a mysterious (natch) gathering of a collective known as the Twelve Detectives. Murder and mayhem ensue. . . . colorful characters and cases create a hazy atmosphere of intelligent escapism. The real subject of the book is the mysterious, melancholic birth of modernity." - Washington Post

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