Ritual of Fire was a solid mystery, and a fitting read for the scorching hot days of summer. Series lead Cesare Aldo has been banished to the countryside, and his former protegee Carlo Strocchi is left behind to deal with the politics in Florence. Strocchi has been assigned to solve the case of a serial killer, someone who seems to be executing wealthy and powerful men in a way similar to how puritanical monk Girolamo Savonarola was executed in Florence forty years ago.

The twist? The victims used to be followers of Savonarola, and they seem to share a decades-old secret. Aldo’s own investigations lead him to Florence and the same case, and as much as Strocchi would prefer for them to stay out of each other’s way completely, he’s also under tremendous pressure to solve the case, and Aldo’s insights may prove invaluable.

I absolutely adored the previous instalment of this series, The Darkest Sin. Beyond the mystery itself, I was sucked into the personal drama between Aldo and Strocchi. Strocchi had always looked up to Aldo, but then learns something about his mentor that he has a strong moral objection to, and basically gives Aldo an ultimatum that forces his mentor to request a transfer to the countryside. It’s wonderfully juicy interpersonal drama, and I’ve always been a sucker for reading about disillusionment in a mentor-mentee relationship, so that last instalment made me fall in love with the characters.

This instalment’s appeal lay much more firmly within the mystery at its core. Who was killing these men and why? I’m proud to boast that I did figure out the murderer, means, and motive long before the actual big reveal. Still, the clues, suspects, and twists were all handled well. There was even a late-in-the-game red herring that made me seriously doubt my guess.

Drama-wise, it wasn’t quite as gripping for me as the last instalment, and I think it’s because both Aldo and Strocchi are way too professional to really let personal animosity get in the way of tracking down a murderer. Strocchi’s distaste for Aldo’s actions is further mitigated by the fact that Strocchi’s wife herself is totally fine with Aldo, and while Strocchi is initially angry that she lets Aldo near their baby, he’s ultimately too good and rational a man to let prejudices cloud his judgement for too long.

So: overall, this is a solid instalment in the Cesare Aldo series. The mystery was good, and as someone who barely knows anything about Italian history, it was also a fascinating deep dive into what was going on in Florence in 1538.

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Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.