A good detective story taking place in a beautiful part of Italy is a real treat for people who enjoy reading crime mysteries and also happen to love Italy. Use this website to find out more about the locations, the lifestyle and the food and the wine experienced by the characters created by your favourite authors.

20140827

Death in August

The first Inspector Bordelli mystery by Marco Vichi


Florence during the summer of 1963 is the setting for this evocative story featuring the weary, disillusioned and constantly nostalgic, Inspector Bordelli.

The Commissario is one of the few policemen left working in the heat of the city, which has been deserted by the residents in favour of the more refreshing atmosphere at the coast or in the hills.

Bordelli has to lead an inquiry into the death of a wealthy woman living in a hilltop villa and is helped by a young Sardinian officer who turns out to be the son of one of his former wartime comrades. 

They soon realise that the lady was murdered and start to suspect members of her family were involved.

But proving what actually happened isn’t easy and Bordelli’s frustration is made worse by the heat, the mosquitoes, his constant and vivid memories of combat with the Germans and his hankering for the cigarettes he knows are so bad for him.

Things are made more bearable for him by his kind and loyal friends. Many of them are former criminals and prostitutes and one of them is a brilliant and inventive cook.

Summer in Italy in the 1960s is brought alive by this entertaining novel by Marco Vichi, originally published in Italian as Il Commissario Bordelli and then translated into English by Stephen Sartarelli.

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(Image by Rolanas Valionis from Pixabay)

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20140820

A Funeral of Gondolas


An Achille Peroni story by Timothy Holme


Peroni has been posted to Venice and is living alone in an apartment bemoaning the lack of serious crime in la Serenissima at the beginning of this book.

But it is not long before the handsome Naples-born Commissario, who has been dubbed the Rudolf Valentino of the Italian police force by the media, finds himself investigating the murder of a lawyer and becoming attracted to a girl from an ancient and noble Venetian family.

Timothy Holme’s entertaining writing style carries the reader along the narrow calle and canals of Venice with Peroni, as he tries to solve an intriguing puzzle involving gondolieri preparing for the annual Regatta and the theft of a priceless manuscript by Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni.

Peroni’s bravery and intuitive detective skills finally help him to arrive at the truth and lead him out to a dramatic denouement on an island in the lagoon.

A Funeral of Gondolas is a gripping story told by the writer with skill and plenty of humour.

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