Author: Nunzia Scalzo
Publisher: Feltrinelli
Date of publication: 30-06-2026
“This family will find peace and serenity only when the Devil is crushed. Trust no one close to you; they are never what they seem.”
It is Baroness Giacinta Luce Di Gregorio who uncovers the sinister message concealed behind a painting. In the seclusion of her villa nestled among the hills of Caltagirone, she is struggling to come to terms with a series of recent losses when she is confronted with these venomous words. Who wrote them? Who is the Devil that must be destroyed? And what is the meaning of the ancient Greek alphanumeric sequence that accompanies them? Is it a threat disguised as a curse?
Determined to uncover the truth, the baroness turns to Bea Navarra, a forensic handwriting expert accustomed to finding the truth in the traces left by the written word. Yet analysing the letters, numbers and distinctive ink found on the back of the painting is not enough. The Di Gregorio family history itself must be reconstructed through the handwriting of its members, because, as Bea knows, paper never forgets. Giacinta, however, seems reluctant to provide documents and information. Joined by her journalist friend Domenico Grimaldi, her sharp-witted and irresistible companion Erina, and aided by a lead from her son Teo, an astrophysicist and deep-web expert, Bea finds herself caught in a tangled web of lies linking past and present, blood and money, love and revenge. As she examines handwriting samples, signatures and long-forgotten documents, Bea pieces together a family portrait marked by forged wills, suspicious deaths and secrets buried for far too long.