When in Rome

A British tour group in Italy finds murder is an obstacle to their sightseeing: "Fastidious writing [and] a fine appreciation of place." — Sunday Times A group of well-to-do tourists is visiting Italy's magnificent churches, but they've found themselves stumbling into an unholy web of blackmail and drug-smuggling—and, in the depths of a Roman basilica, murder. Fortunately Inspector Roderick Alleyn is among the group as part of an undercover assignment, and prepared to extract a confession . . . "A lively thriller whodunnit." — The Observer "The nonpareil among criminal investigators." — The New York Times