In 18th-century Venice, every passerby hides behind a mask, their secrets buried deep in the city’s shadowy alleys. Peter Dedalus, the brilliant inventor from Kilmore Cove, seems to have taken refuge here, wrapped in the mystery of a broken promise. And the only one who knows where he’s hiding is the enigmatic Black Gondolier, who will lead Jason, Julia, and Rick into a new and unexpected adventure… Unless Oblivia gets there first.
Original edition illustrations and logo by Iacopo Bruno
20th anniversary illustrations by Alida Pintus
Pierdomenico Baccalario has been writing children’s novels since 1997, when he won the Il Battello a Vapore literary prize with La strada del Guerriero (The Way of the Warrior) using his neighbour’s name. Since then, his bestsellers have been written under as many pseudonyms (the best known being Ulysses Moore and Irene Adler), translated into more than thirty languages and published with major Italian and foreign publishers. He has collaborated with Lucca Comics & Games for more than twenty years, has written for Repubblica, and is a columnist for the newspaper Corriere della Sera’s La Lettura literary supplement. In 2014, he founded the Book on a Tree creative agency in London.
