In David "D.V." Bishop's debut historical thriller, City of Vengeance, former soldier-turned-officer of the criminal court Cesare Aldo uncovers some pretty sordid activities as he investigates a couple of murders in 16th century Florence. But surely nothing as shocking as the most infamous case that the ex-New Zealand Herald journalist covered during his time as a high court reporter in Auckland in the late 1980s.
"I covered the first Peter Plumley-Walker murder trial, which was eye-opening in more ways than one," he recalls. "The evidence about the teenage dominatrix and the services she offered was shocking to many readers in pre-internet days. Best of all, my reports were on the front page every day, instead of being buried on the court page. It went on for more than a month, which was highly unusual for a murder trial at the time, as most only lasted a few days. By the end, there were multiple TV cameras outside the front doors of the courtroom, which simply didn't happen in those days. Sex and murder are a potent combination."
Sex and murder also lie at the heart of City of Vengeance, as Aldo juggles the fatal beating of a cross-dressing courtesan with the stabbing of a Jewish moneylender while also contending with an unscrupulous fellow member of the Otto di Guardia e Balia, who blackmails him about his homosexuality, which was then illegal in Florence. "Aldo's sexuality places him outside the law, meaning he is always in danger," says Bishop. "This makes it harder for him to trust anyone with his secrets."
Born in Cambridge but raised in Auckland, Bishop spent two years at the Herald before moving to London in 1990. Admitting that he "never meant the move to be permanent and still plans to come home," within six months of arriving in the UK he had secured a position assisting on the launch of the Judge Dredd Megazine, a spin-off of the British science-fiction comic 2000 AD, showcasing its most popular character, the titular Lawman of the Future. "Within a year, I was editing the Megazine," says Bishop, who was also appointed editor of 2000 AD itself in 1995. "2000 AD is an anthology comic that has helped nurture the career of almost every major comic creator in the last 44 years including Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore. I spent five years editing it before I quit to go freelance as a writer and relocated to Scotland."