D V Bishop writes about Renaissance Florence with the same skill as C J Sansom writes about Tudor England. Cesare Aldo is such a great character and this story set in the convent with all of its intrigues and goings on was a page-turning read. Strocchi is shaping up nicely too. Such a great cast of characters. I have great hopes for this series after two such great books to get it started. Sumptuous cover and chapter headings too. With thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an e-ARC of this title to read and review.

From Good Reads:

Read this straight after the first - this is as good.

Murder and intrigue in 16th century Florence.
Multiple strands with real edge of the seat twists.
Cesare Aldo is a wonderful creation and we see his character developed with glimpses of his past.

Wonderful, atmospheric historical crime

Next please.

Cesare Aldo is back in the sequel to DV Bishop’s historical crime debut City of Vengeance. Once again, Bishop brings the world of Sixteenth Century Florence vividly to life while delivering a well paced murder mystery While this book deals with a very different crime, Bishop keeps some of the threads hanging from his debut ticking along in the background through an investigation by Aldo’s partner Carlo Strocchi.
The Darkest Sin opens with a murder in a monastery. The victim is not one of the nuns but a man, found naked, in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds. How Cesare Aldo finds himself there when the body is discovered takes a little while to explain but Bishop drops back a few days to describe the lead up to this event and Aldo’s connection to it. Although the church takes over the investigation of the murder, Aldo still manages to insert himself into the case, pushing through to find the truth no matter the cost. Once Aldo gets some control of the investigation, The Darkest Sin becomes an effectively claustrophobic procedural with a ticking clock behind it as the Church tries to wrap things up quickly. In the meantime, Strocchi stumbles upon the body of missing officer Cerchi and his investigation into that death inexorably leads him closer to Aldo.
The Darkest Sin is another great entry in this strong historical crime series. While the first book was tied closely in with the historical manoeuvrings of the Medici family, this volume is a little less beholden to specific events. Bishop still manages to incorporate key elements of Florentine history as a driver of some of the characters motivations. He is also interested in the fight between those who wanted to keep the monasteries open and those who wanted those women to be completely enclosed and cut off from the world.
And while, once again, the narrative ranges over key people in the story, the focus is on Aldo, with a strong supporting role from Strocchi. More is learnt about Aldo’s history, his early years being raised by a noble family despite being illegitimate and the consequences of the death of his father when he was twelve. And there is great insight into Strocchi, his moral code which seems at odds with the corruption and greyness that exists in Florence.
With The Darkest Sin Bishop continues to show his effortless capacity to deliver page-turning and interesting crime genre tales. The red herrings are carefully laid and twists are well paced and the conclusion is satisfying. And while sometimes the dialogue can feel a little anachronistic, readers should take this as Bishop capturing the spirit of the time in a way that makes sense to modern audiences. With this book ending on a kind-of cliffhanger, or at least a decision point for some of the characters, it feels like a third book is on the way and that beyond that this series may have some way to run. Given the strength of the first two entries that is not a bad thing.

City of Vengeance was the first in this series featuring Cesar Aldo and The Darkest Sin is the follow up. Both work well as a stand-alone read, but in this second outing, we learn more about Aldo. The setting is 16th century Florence and D V Bishop has absolutely nailed the scene. I’ve never visited Florence, but I have a real sense if the city from the way he writes. The buildings, the heat the class divides, corruption and secrets. It’s all brought to life in the course of Aldo’s investigation into a gruesome murder.

The research must be meticulous because although the story hangs around a crime, the historical aspect is so richly detailed the reader feels part of that journey back in time. I love the Aldo character; he’s plausible and likeable. The plot takes quite a few unexpected turns and I was engrossed from start to finish. Another winner from the Bishop stable.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This is the follow up to City Of Vengeance, and it's again a mixture of crime and Florentine politics - this time the relationship between societies and convents, as well as church politics around the place of women, and Cesare Aldo's own family.

A murder at a convent, of a man who has no business being there - Aldo happens to be present when his body is discovered and manages to investigate despite the Church's best efforts to keep him away. Meanwhile, Strocchi has found the body of the missing Cerchi (who was killed at the end of the previous book) and is on the trail of who might have killed him. Neither of them like the answers they're finding.

Like the previous book, it's a good read. The historic detail is present but not over-bearing, you get the sense of it being well researched without it being an information dump about the history of Florence. I really enjoyed it and will continue to look out for the series.

Beautifully written novel set in medieval Florence. The story provides answers to the previous episode concerning investigator Cesare Alda and in this story the discovery of a dead man’s body in a convent provides the basic storyline. Wonderfully atmospheric in its descriptions of conditions at the time the investigation has so many suspects and they’re all nuns! Great stuff and of course all is revealed at the end but there’s a teaser that hints of more to come.Recommended!

This is my first introduction to the character of Aldo and I must go back to read the first book as I felt a little lost. However I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the Author writes so well of the period and the place that I was able to fully experience the characters. Well done to D V Bishop on another Well written story. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed the first in this series set in the dark, violent, machiavellian (literally) world of Renaissance Florence so requesting the sequel from Netgalley was a no brainer. Luckily the sequel easily lives up to the promise of the first, twisty, tense and bringing the setting completely alive.
Cesare Aldo is still trying to do his job as an officer of the Otto, one of the city's courts, investigating murder and other crimes while staying under the radar from some of the influential and vindictive merchants he brushed up against a few months earlier. But when accusations are made that a man has been seen breaking into a convent, one of those very merchants demands Aldo investigates, and soon not only is Aldo trying to find a murderer but his own past, recent and distant starts to haunt him.
The research that goes into these books is formidable. D V Bishop brings the sounds, smells and sights of Florence vividly to life from the rich merchants, to the Jewish Ghetto, to the paipers scratching out a living to the decadent clergy to convent life. All this is combined with a very satisfactory mystery and compelling characters. A series to savour, let's hope there are many more.

I really enjoyed the second book in DV Bishop’s Caesar Aldo series. Set in Cosimo Medici’s Florence in the 16th century, The Darkest Sin is, amongst many other things, a murder mystery set in a monastery.

It has everything you would expect from a typical locked room mystery; a brilliant cast of characters/suspects, a dead body with a sketchy past, and a murder that doesn’t add up.

The writing is very strong. Bishop’s Florence is full of life, and he draws the reader into its unfamiliar streets and makes you feel at home.

I love the character of Aldo. He’s rough and grey and doesn’t quite fit into the world he inhabits. I really hope there’s a lot more of these, they’re brilliantly enjoyable page turners.

Excellent follow up to Bishop’s debut novel, City of Vengeance, featuring detective detective Cesar Aldo in the medieval Florence of Carlo de Medici. It can be read as a standalone but readers would miss the tension ofAldo’s assistant Strocchi’s discovery of human remains linked to the disappearance of their fellow detective in the first novel. Here Aldo investigates a brutal murder in a convent where all human frailties can be found underneath the surface, as well a some personal links which reveal more of Aldo’s mysterious past. As before the reader is fully immersed in a well researched, beautifully described environment with some wonderful characters which make this book stand out from the crowd.

This is the terrific follow up to the wonderful DV Bishop's The City of Vengeance, set in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century, that established the complicated and able Cesare Aldo, an officer of Ottodi Guardia e Bilia in Florence. This is a blend of fact and fiction, with the inclusion of the actual corrupt Medici Archbishop at the time, and the real conflicts and debates that occurred in convents, with nuns split between having a real life role in handing out alms to the poor and the needy, and those who believed they should be enclosed orders dedicated only to god, meditations and prayers. The important Ruggerio, a man with teflon qualities in avoiding being caught out in his misdeeds, exercises his influence in having Cesare sent to look into reports of intruders entering a convent.

Whilst there, Cesare thinks he sees his half sister Teresa, only to discover it is her 15 year old daughter, Isabella Goudi, being educated there, this has him turmoil as he was banished from his family home at 14, thrown out on to the streets when his father died. The convent is a hotbed of intrigue and rivalries, the Abess is a believer in good works, helping those in desperate need and abused women, the Prioress leads the dissenting voices that favour a closed order, and they have engaged in underhand actions that have led to the Church sending visitations to ensure that the nuns are not engaged in untoward activities. The convent finds its existence come under severe threat when a naked man is found dead on the premises, stabbed in what looks like a frenzy of rage, and the perpetrator can only be a nun. Aldo investigates whilst his diligent colleague, Constable Carlo Strocchi, focuses on the murder of a hated officer of the court, his body recovered from the Arno.

Bishop paints an atmospheric picture of Florence in this historical period, the vast inequalities to be found in Italian society, the social norms and expectations, for instance, with the position of women, and the power structures, the central role of the Catholic church, and the influence and privilege of the wealthy. We are provided insights into just how difficult the women as nuns found it to implement their own decisions in the convents, a practice that was stamped on by the religious hierarchy. This is a engaging and riveting story of twists and turns, with Aldo finding himself in danger on more than one front, and the conclusion has me highly anticipating the next in the series. I highly recommend this to those who love their historical mysteries and to crime fiction fans. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

This takes place a few months after the end of A City of Vengeance, It's a good sequel and a standalone too so you can enjoy it either way.

Florence is a great setting here as it was in book one. Florence in 1530 s is dark and mysterious and very deadly! There are some dubious characters living here and we have Cesare Aldo to sort it all out if he can. He is the main character and investigates a crime that has serious repercussions. Loved finding about him more and

I really loved the first book that introduced us to Cesare Aldo and the surroundings of 1530s Florence, Italy. This book starts off a couple months after the first book ends. He works with another investigator of his time. Constable Strocchi is a good character and it was interesting to find what had happened to him since book one.

I really love the full, immersive experience of being enveloped into 16th century Florence. The culture, society, political intrigue, the dirt and grit, the beauty, and the complicated murders…

There's so many layers in this book = plot, characters, Florence, history, mystery and the underbelly of the top level of society and justice. A lot to discuss with fellow readers in a book club perhaps.

Detailed and meaty but never boring or too full of information and research.

Book 2# in the series begins a few months after the first.
1537, Florence, Italy.
Bernardo Galeri was a liar, gambler, bully and a thief, and he’s been found naked and viciously stabbed to death in a convent of all places - he was part of a visitation from the diocese. The only inhabitants are the nuns, but could a nun really have done this? Everything points to that conclusion, but it’s up to Cesare Aldo to discover the truth. Aldo is an officer of the Otto di Guardia e Balia, the most powerful criminal court in the city.

Meanwhile, constable Carlo Strocchi is investigating human remains pulled from the river Arno, and thought to be Cerci, an officer of the law missing for some months. This was a most despicable individual, disliked by many, but who would go as far as killing him?

The two cases create a complex but clever whodunnit, with many twists and turns. Tense, and atmospheric, with murder, political intrigue, secrets, and old rivalries, all simmering away in the background, and a terrific protagonist in Cesare Aldo, mean this is shaping up to be a terrific series. A must for those who enjoy historical fiction.

The Darkest Sin by D. V. Bishop is an excellent historical mystery that is the second book in the amazing Cesare Aldo series. This series is just so amazing!

I really loved the first book that introduced us to Cesare Aldo and the surroundings of 1530s Florence, Italy. This book starts off a couple months after the first book ends.

I really love the full, immersive experience of being enveloped into 16th century Florence. The culture, society, political intrigue, the dirt and grit, the beauty, and the complicated murders…

I enjoyed getting to know one of my favorite characters further in this book…Aldo. He is such a fascinating, complex, intricate, and addictive character and personality. He really is the star of this show. Reveals continued to take place while we follow along two different mysteries…one involving a convent (and oh the drama that takes place within a convent…) and also the mysteries involving fellow investigator, Constable Strocchi.

The dual murder/mysteries add a wonderfully delicious layer of complexity to the narrative, making it that much more addictive. I love the pacing, the plots, the suspense, the surprises, and the slow reveals that the author adds throughout. The character development and full cast is just spot on.

The author clearly has a talent in research and also in creating a story that really brings to life a time and location that has long been entered into our history books.

I just cannot wait until I find out what happens next.

Thank you NG and Pan Macmillan for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately (as of 12/22/21 no BB listing has been created and link will be updated when it is available) and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/3/22.

Brilliant !I

Cesare Aldo is ordered to investigate a murder but that isn't easy in 16th century Medicis Florence. A political tightrope has to be accommodated as well as the all powerful secretive Catholic Church.

A really good plot and sub plot unravel two murders by a skilful process of elimination. Aldo in particular is very thorough

This reminds me of Sansom ,but this is a unique writer who brings the sights and smells of Florence alive.

Can't wait for more of Aldo

The second Cesare Aldo book and just as riveting. This book very much picks up where the previous book left off and this forms one of the story lines. As with the first book, the historical detail is excellent and the reader is wonderfully immersed in the political atmosphere of 16th century Florence. The inequalities and power struggles are intelligently portrayed. The plot is well planned with many twists and surprises.
The characters, both those continuing from the first book and the ones introduced in this one, are excellently drawn. Cesare Aldo, in particular, is an engagingly complex character. The story was a little slow to pick up speed but when it did, it was a thrilling read. Thoroughly enjoyable and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

The riveting & gritty sequel to Mr. Bishop's City of Vengeance set in Florence at the end of the 1530s where murder, greed, madness and mayhem among a convent community collide with the political shenanigans who are still slowly but surely smoldering underneath the city almost 40 years after the last embers from Savonarola's bonfire had been extinguished...

Another opportunity to meet the winsome but too emotionally tormented Cesare Aldo as he skillfully tries to untangle the mystery behind the coldblooded murder of a city official inside the sacred walls of a religious institution that is still struggling to define its role within the city boundaries.

A captivating and very cleverly plotted whodunit blessed with a brilliant cast of unforgettable characters and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing all the way to its rewarding conclusion.

An accomplished and entertaining Renaissance tapestry that should definitely satisfy anyone interested by good historical fiction. Hopefully Mr. Bishop will bring back Cesare Aldo into our lives very very soon👏👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this terrific ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc. I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series by DV Bishop and was very pleased to be able to review this one. Set mainly in Florence it gave more insight into the background of Cesare Aldo . As a fan of CJ Sansom and Ken Follett I have added this author to my list of favourites. This isn’t a stand alone book I feel. The reader would be best to read City of Vengeance first. A great series is developing

An excellent thriller set in Florence in 1535, book 2 of a series. Two investigations led each by one of two partners. One, Strocchi, is investigating the murder of a fellow investigator, the second one. Aldo investigates another incident within the confines of a convent. Much action has had me holding my breath all through the book. I also found very interesting to read about the politics ruling over convents at the time, the daily life of the women (nuns, novices, boarders) living there, each with their own personality, agenda and ambitions which show that not all runs smoothly in a convent as one might believe.... The novel is also very well researched. Highly recommended for readers of mystery with a historical setting.
Thank you very much, NetGalley for letting me read this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Cesare Aldo is back, and as good as ever.

The first Aldo book, " City of Vengeance" introduced us to Cesare Aldo, former soldier and now member of 16th century Florence's police force, the Otto. We learned a little about him, but it left us with many questions.

Luckily the second book in the series "The Darkest Sin" picks up a little more than two months later and immediately lands us in a convent. Having been asked simply to investigates reports of intruders at the convent, he is soon immersed in a community divided by bitter rivalries and dark secrets, when a naked man is found murdered in the scriptorium.

At the same time newly married Constable Carlo Strocchi, finds evidence that former Otto officer, Cerchi has been murdered, and embarks on a mission to uncover the killer...

And so begins another race against time to uncover a murderer, right some wrongs, serve some justice, and settle some scores.

Author David Bishop has once again re-created the sights, smells and events of 16th century Florence perfectly. From the filth-ridden streets, to the scorching sun, from the poverty-stricken citizens to the rich and corrupt upper-class, every page comes alive with colour. We've got Medici's, self-serving merchants, evil matriarchs, oh, and nuns. Lots of nuns, with agendas, hidden secrets, and rivalries. Fans will be happy to know also that Aldo's relationship with a certain doctor is not over.

It's wonderful to learn more about Aldo's past, and we meet some key characters from his childhood, who may yet help shape his future. I was especially impressed with the journey taken by Strocchi, as he struggles with his conscience and his search for justice, when the answer to his questions leads to an unenviable choice.

I was fortunate to score a Netgalley ARC of the book, but rest assured I'll be first in the queue for another read of a proper copy when it arrives. Recommended for fans of SJ Parris, CJ Sansom and SG MacLean.