The Mosaic Crimes

Or perhaps with another elusive Beatrice, the heiress to the imperial Swabian throne, whose rumored arrival in the city could upset the political aspirations of Pope Boniface, Dante's nemesis?"--BOOK JACKET.

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Italy, June 1300. In a disused church on the outskirts of Florence, the master craftsman, Ambrogio, is found murdered at the foot of an unfinished mosaic. A young Dante Alighieri, (future author of The Divine Comedy) the recently elected Prior to the City of Florence, is called upon to investigate. He learns that the church is being transformed into a university at the behest of the new Pope, Bonifacius VIII. Closer inspection reveals catacombs beneath the floor, populated with beggars and thieves, who speak of witchcraft and satanic rituals practised above. Meanwhile, the Church, on learning of Dante's involvement, begins to show an unusual interest in Ambrogio's fate. But Dante has one further lead; Ambrogio belonged to a society of learned men, The Third Heaven. Dante hears they are in Florence for the founding of the new university, and believes that if he can infiltrate this group he may uncover the significance of Ambrogio's work. Perhaps the key to the murder is the mosaic itself. Leoni sets this clever thriller in a city on edge, nervously recovering from civil war. Medieval Florence is portrayed with stunning clarity; a city on the cusp of the Renaissance, in which new learning - in the guise of Dante - takes on the dark forces of old. The Third Heaven Conspiracy is a breathtaking whodunnit.

A collection of short detective stories for young adults who are interested in applying high school level mathematics and physics to solving mysteries. The main character is Ravi, a 14-year-old math genius who helps the local police solve cases. Each chapter is a detective story with a mathematical puzzle at its core that Ravi is able to solve. The

Combining elements of medievalism, the historical novel and the detective narrative, medieval crime fiction capitalizes upon the appeal of all three--the most famous examples being Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose (one of the best-selling books ever published) and Ellis Peters' endearing Brother Cadfael series. Hundreds of other novels and series fill out the genre, in settings ranging from the so-called Celtic Enlightenment in seventh-century Ireland to the ruthless Inquisition in fourteenth-century France to the mean streets of medieval London. The detectives are an eclectic group, including weary ex-crusaders, former Knights Templar, enterprising monks and nuns, and historical poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer. This book investigates the enduring popularity of the largely unexamined genre and explores its social, cultural and political contexts.

One of the oldest and most extensive forms of criminology falls within what is referred to, among other names, as social ecology. Beginning with the work of Guerry and Quetelet, this theory became the dominate paradigm in explaining crime with the work of the Chicago School in the early 1900s, social disorganization theory, and neighborhood research attempting to deal with crime in deteriorating cities. Social ecology is also the basis for the research being conducted in environmental criminology. This volume offers a selection of the most influential works in social ecology and environmental criminology. It begins with research from human ecology and the Chicago School, extending through some of the research in social disorganization theory. It encompasses some of the major journal articles from the 1980s and 1990s in neighborhoods and crime, and then addresses some of the quintessential works in environmental criminology. It ends with groundbreaking work in this area that may indicate the future direction of the field. This valuable collection includes an excellent introduction by Jeff Walker.