Augusto de Angelis Livres

When murder pays a visit to a seedy Milan hotel, Inspector De Vincenzi races to solve the case before more guests are checked out—for good The shady Hotel of the Three Roses is home to an assortment of drunks and degenerates. Inspector De Vincenzi receives an anonymous letter, warning him of an imminent outrage at the guest house. Shortly after, a macabre discovery is made—a body is found hanging in the hotel's stairwell. As De Vincenzi investigates, more deaths follow, until he finally uncovers a gothic and grotesque story linking the Three Roses' unhappy residents to each other. This intensely dramatic mystery from the father of the Italian crime novel, Augusto de Angelis, features his most famous creation—Inspector De Vincenzi.

A body is discovered in a Milan apartment, and Inspector De Vincenzi investigates. The apartment happens to belong to and old university friend of his, Aurigi. When the body turns out to be that of Aurigi's banker, and a phial of prussic acid is discovered in the bathroom, suspicion falls on the apartment's owner, and De Vincenzi is agonisingly torn between his sense of duty and his loyalty to an old comrade... This intensely dramatic mystery from the father of the Italian crime novel, Augusto de Angelis, is the first to feature his most famous creation--Inspector De Vincenzi.

Translation of: Il mistero delle tre orchidee. Originally published in Italian: Aurora, 1942.