Verona, 52 BC – At the height of the Gallic Wars, Gaius Julius Caesar is making final preparations for the siege of Alesia against Vercingetorix. He has to send key secret military information to his lieutenants in Verona and manages to do so thanks to the knowledge and insight of a young mathematician in his retinue.

Verona, 2023 AD – Kyaeng Jin-Woo, a South Korean tycoon, has organized a touring exhibition of priceless ancient theatre masks. The first stop is Italy, at a castle nestling in lush vineyards in the province of Verona. However, something goes awry and the most valuable mask is stolen by means of a mathematical technique which has been known for centuries. It falls to Soo-Min and Yong-Soo, who have just opened their own private investigation agency, to uncover the truth by ploughing through restoration techniques, gourmet food and family mysteries.

Hidden Signs is the third novel featuring Choi Soo-Min, a young Italian-South Korean criminologist with two operational internships with the Italian Carabinieri under her belt, the first in Venice (recounted in The Last Refrain) and the second in Florence (recounted in Team Code). Each novel addresses a different issue in Mathematics in a pleasantly informative manner. Hidden Signs is devoted to steganography, the branch of Mathematics that deals with hiding information.

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