Book excerpt: A case of theft spirals into murder in the latest intriguing Alex Quick mystery Former police detective Alex Quick finds it impossible to refuse when a young family friend begs for her help in discovering which of his friends is a thief. Following a dinner party he’d held at his uncle’s grand Venetian apartment, a pair of valuable items went missing, only to turn up at a London pawnbrokers. But why would a wealthy guest, a member of the glamorous Anglo-Italian jet-set, need to steal in the first place? Before Alex can discover more, one of the dinner party guests is found murdered. Could there be a connection to the theft? As she heads to Venice to pursue her investigations further, Alex receives news that another person present that night has disappeared and the case spirals into something altogether darker and deeper.