MURDER ON THE NIGHT STROLL: A Milan Noir Mystery

A woman is murdered on the edge of Milan. The newspaper gives her four lines-and not even her name. Valentina Sepúlveda is found strangled inside a car near viale Zara, on a gravel lot only a few hundred yards from the traffic and lights of the city. To the police and the newspapers, she risks becoming another anonymous victim from the night streets. But Valentina had a name. She had a home, a best friend, and plans for a different life. When Gloria asks private investigator Folco Bastiani to uncover the truth, he follows Valentina's final days through late-night avenues, hospital corridors, modest apartments, architectural offices, and the protected world of a wealthy Milanese family. What first appears to be an isolated act of violence begins to reveal a chain of fear, respectability, and carefully maintained silence. Folco must determine who killed Valentina-and who decided that protecting a reputation mattered more than protecting her life. Murder on the Night Stroll is a dark, humane Milan noir about prejudice, power, cowardice, and the people whose stories are too easily erased. It is the second Folco Bastiani investigation and can be read as a complete standalone mystery.