Venice, city of masks, city of mystery. After the success of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, author John Berendt searched for another city, another subject. He chose the island city of Venice; in his words, "uniquely beautiful…isolated geographically and emotionally…inward-looking….steeped in tradition." When he arrived in 1996, the city was almost smoldering in controversy: Just three days before, La Fenice, its historic opera house, had gone up in flames, and this city of canals was awash in rumors and accusations about the fire's cause. As Berendt immersed himself in Venetian culture, he learned that secrets and quarrels were seldom far beneath the surface. In City of Falling Angels, he reveals Venice as a festering hive of eccentrics, connivers, and provocateurs; a mazelike city where mysteries unfold upon mysteries and where even murder is a matter of opinion.