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"Untitled":
The first thing we see when we look at the cover of a book is the title. A word or a few words to encompass the tens of thousands of words within.
Author Tess Merlin’s newest release refused to accept the limitations of a title, instead demanding fluidity and the opportunity to offer the option of personal interpretation by the reader. As with all of her books, there is a challenge to readers to think about an important issue in our society, wrapped in a page-turning story.
This cross-genre fiction draws on Tess’s experience as a police officer and her life in Italy, to combine crime, mystery, romance and family saga in an intriguing, fast-paced story…
Recovering from crashing his shiny new bike, young Australian policeman Luca has time on his hands and a festering family secret on his mind. Each time he asks his strict Italian mother for the truth about his father’s death in Italy twenty years ago, she will not speak of it.
Frustrated with her latest refusal, Luca decides to use his investigative skills to go back to where it all happened, to find the answers for himself. What he discovers shocks him to the core and puts him and those he loves in danger—from his own flesh and blood.
Family takes on a whole new meaning and Luca begins to question who he really is, and whether a family’s involvement in crime in Italy necessarily means they’re Mafia.
Readers will be transported to Italy with Luca and thrust headlong into unravelling this dangerous mystery with him.
Author Tess Merlin’s newest release refused to accept the limitations of a title, instead demanding fluidity and the opportunity to offer the option of personal interpretation by the reader. As with all of her books, there is a challenge to readers to think about an important issue in our society, wrapped in a page-turning story.
This cross-genre fiction draws on Tess’s experience as a police officer and her life in Italy, to combine crime, mystery, romance and family saga in an intriguing, fast-paced story…
Recovering from crashing his shiny new bike, young Australian policeman Luca has time on his hands and a festering family secret on his mind. Each time he asks his strict Italian mother for the truth about his father’s death in Italy twenty years ago, she will not speak of it.
Frustrated with her latest refusal, Luca decides to use his investigative skills to go back to where it all happened, to find the answers for himself. What he discovers shocks him to the core and puts him and those he loves in danger—from his own flesh and blood.
Family takes on a whole new meaning and Luca begins to question who he really is, and whether a family’s involvement in crime in Italy necessarily means they’re Mafia.
Readers will be transported to Italy with Luca and thrust headlong into unravelling this dangerous mystery with him.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2026
About the author
Tess Merlin
3 books1 followerTess Merlin is an ex-police officer and writer. Her first novel RANK was written from her lived experiences as a policewoman and as someone with personal experience of the trauma of being stalked.
Her second book Red Dirt Blue Lights was a Finalist in the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards. This historical fiction novella tells an emotional and subtly educational story of Australian Indigenous history, set in Cherbourg and surrounds. The engaging story is grounded in historical integrity, cultural consultation and research, and her personal experience as a young policewoman in the 1970s.
Tess writes from the peaceful shores in Gubbi Gubbi country. She believes that stories written about Indigenous communities should benefit those communities. As well as the social and educational benefits, a percentage of the sales of Red Dirt Blue Lights goes to the Ration Shed Museum at Cherbourg.
Tess believes in continuously attempting new challenges and writing about difficult but important topics. She regularly speaks on author panels and runs workshops in local libraries.
Her second book Red Dirt Blue Lights was a Finalist in the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards. This historical fiction novella tells an emotional and subtly educational story of Australian Indigenous history, set in Cherbourg and surrounds. The engaging story is grounded in historical integrity, cultural consultation and research, and her personal experience as a young policewoman in the 1970s.
Tess writes from the peaceful shores in Gubbi Gubbi country. She believes that stories written about Indigenous communities should benefit those communities. As well as the social and educational benefits, a percentage of the sales of Red Dirt Blue Lights goes to the Ration Shed Museum at Cherbourg.
Tess believes in continuously attempting new challenges and writing about difficult but important topics. She regularly speaks on author panels and runs workshops in local libraries.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 1, 2026
Love the message the lack of title conveys (explained in the introduction). Apart from that, it's a great adventure into discovery of identity and what names mean, especially our family names. Also loved being transported to Italy for most of this story!
Displaying 1 of 1 review