Francesca Serafini

At the age of just thirty-three, detective Lisa Mancini has built herself a remarkable career, one she should be proud of. Then one day she up and leaves the Interpol offices in Lyon to head the police department in Montezenta, an obscure town in Italy’s Romagna region. Before she can even really settle in there, a fifteen-year-old English boy named River disappears. He had been living with his family just outside Montezenta’s medieval walls, in a free-wheeling, unconventional commune of sorts that recycles waste materials as art works. Is River really a victim of this situation, or is he fleeing from something very wrong that he did himself? To answer this question, Lisa will need to face up to the demons from her own past.

A linguist by training, Francesca Serafini got her start as a screenwriter, scripting the TV series La squadra. She co-wrote the film Don’t Be Bad with director Claudio Caligari and Giordano Meacci. She teamed up with Giordano Meacci again to write the film Fabrizio De André – Principe libero. She joined actors Valerio Mastandrea, Luca Marinelli, Alessandro Borghi, and other figures to take part in the documentary Se c’è un aldilà sono fottuto. Vita e cinema di Claudio Caligari, directed by Simone Isola and Fausto Trombetta. She has also published several books, among them Questo è il punto. Istruzioni per l’uso della punteggiatura, Di calcio non si parla, and Lui, io, noi (co-written with Dori Ghezzi and Giordano Meacci). Tre madri is her first novel.

Lorenzo Scano

They’re sixteen and seventeen, and no one can tell them that these are the best years of their lives. Not for Davide, they aren’t: his father died, he grew up in the CEP projects in Cagliari, on the wrong side of the tracks, and wound up in juvenile prison. As for Chanel, she’s ashamed of her name and managed to get out of the same ‘hood thanks to her father: Marione Santorsola, known as ‘su Becchinu’, a one-time boxing champ and legendary figure of the local underworld who has turned over a new leaf and opened a gym. Adolescence is tricky for Filippo, as well; he may be the scion of a wealthy family, but he has a little problem with cocaine, hangs out with lowlifes, and is a thug himself. In no time, the lives of all three go right off the rails. Plus, they have a score to settle. Their paths cross at su Becchinu’s gym and lock into place like contenders in the ring, while love knocks them out for the count.

Lorenzo Scano (1993) lives in Cagliari, where he got an early start at writing crime fiction. After winning two literary awards while still at school, he published a short story collection, Hinterland – Noir nell’Area Vasta cagliaritana, which was shortlisted for the Corpi Freddi Awards, in the category Best Debut Author. In 2016, his first novel, Stagione di sangue (Watson Editore), was published, followed two years later by Pioggia sporca (La Corte Editore). Via libera is Scano’s third novel. He previously owned the bookshop Metropolitan, specialized in mystery and noir novels and thrillers. He contributes to the monthly Il Cagliaritano, as well as online magazines.