Daughter of Ashes

This is the final book in Tuti’s stunning and disturbing trilogy starring police detective Teresa Battaglia and set in the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy. Teresa has always been an extraordinary character, a woman who fought her way up the police ladder—while suffering the ridicule of her male peers—and at the same time found herself caught in an abusive marriage that nearly killed her. Now in her early sixties, she has slowly acknowledged that she has Alzheimer’s, and in this book we see it beginning to dominate her life. But just as she is about to retire, Teresa is brought back to work on a case featuring Giacomo Mainardi, a serial killer she confronted 27 years ago, whose mind she has come to understand and whose soul she has come to respect. While very much the tale of a serial killer, this final volume finds Teresa finally accepting the love and support of her colleagues, putting aside the “thick and steely…armor she wore every day,” and acknowledging that she has paved “the way for all the other women who would follow, and for anybody—regardless of their sex—who might be vulnerable to being victimized by people in position of power.” Best to read this brilliant series in order, beginning with Flowers over the Inferno.