Castagnetti (informally known as 'Casta') is a private detective who doesn't do things by the book. When a pompous notary commissions him to verify that a missing person is "presumed dead" in order to dispose of a dead woman's estate to the other heirs, Casta smells a rat. Before long he's reopening wounds from years ago and exposing family secrets to those who have tried to suppress them. The relatives of Signora Salati just want their their inheritance, but Casta is going to make sure they get their just desserts as well. Because Casta isn't the sort to content himself with "presumed dead". He likes certainty, the kind of certainty that comes from seeing a skeleton. As the Salati case progresses, other corpses appear and Casta realises he's at the centre of an old-fashioned Italian whodunit. The Salti Case marks the appearance of a new and memorable detective: an orphan who has pulled himself up from the mean streets.

Tobias Jones was on the staff of the London Review of Books and the Independent on Sunday before moving to Parma in 1999. He is a regular contributor for the British and Italian press.