An Achille Peroni mystery by Timothy Holme
Commissario Achille Peroni is captivated by a red-haired
English girl who takes him sailing while he is on holiday at a resort on Lake
Garda.
When her dead body is found floating in the lake it is
assumed by the local police that she had an accident while out in her boat.
The old harbour at Desenzano del Garda - at the end of the lake where the action in the book takes place |
But Peroni, who by now has become emotionally involved with the dead girl,
remembers how well she handled her boat when she took him out and refuses to be convinced.
He starts his own unofficial inquiries and finds himself
retracing the English girl’s steps. She had been trying to find the hiding
place in the lake of Mussolini’s legendary gold.
The Rudolf Valentino of the Italian police puts himself at
risk by meeting up with the families of old Fascist supporters of Mussolini and allowing himself to be taken below the waters of the lake by under water explorers in attempts to
find out the truth.
It is a well-written, gripping novel and has a twist in the
tail.
Sadly, it was to be the fifth and final Peroni case from the
masterly pen of Timothy Holme.