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Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery #6
The Marshal and the Madwoman
Out giving his wife driving lessons, Marshal Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri witnesses a disturbance in the streets involving a local eccentric, “crazy Clementina.” When the woman is found dead in her apartment soon after the incident of an apparent suicide, the marshal is puzzled and immediately suspects foul play. But who would have a motive to kill her? As the marshal dives into the case and reconstructs Clementina’s tragic past, his investigation dredges up the events surrounding a disastrous flood some twenty years earlier and a controversial piece of legislation with profound effects on the lives of Italy’s mentally unstable residents.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Magdalen Nabb
62 books54 followersMAGDALEN NABB was born in Lancashire in 1947 and trained as a potter. In 1975 she abandoned pottery, sold her home and her car, and came to Florence with her son, knowing nobody and speaking no Italian. She has lived there ever since, and pursues a dual career as crime writer and children's author.
She has written fourteen crime novels featuring Marshal Guarnaccia of the carabinieri, all set in Florence, which she describes as 'a very secret city. Walk down any residential street and you have no idea what is going on behind those blank walls. It's a problem the Marshal comes up against all the time.'
Magdalen Nabb also writes the immensely successful Josie Smith books, set in her native Lancashire, which form the basis of the Granada children's TV series, Josie Smith, scripted by the author. Her first book, Josie Smith, was runner-up for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award in 1989, and in l99l, Josie Smith and Eileen was winner of the prestigious Smarties Book Prize for the 6-8 age group.
Series:
* Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery
* Josie Smith
She has written fourteen crime novels featuring Marshal Guarnaccia of the carabinieri, all set in Florence, which she describes as 'a very secret city. Walk down any residential street and you have no idea what is going on behind those blank walls. It's a problem the Marshal comes up against all the time.'
Magdalen Nabb also writes the immensely successful Josie Smith books, set in her native Lancashire, which form the basis of the Granada children's TV series, Josie Smith, scripted by the author. Her first book, Josie Smith, was runner-up for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award in 1989, and in l99l, Josie Smith and Eileen was winner of the prestigious Smarties Book Prize for the 6-8 age group.
Series:
* Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery
* Josie Smith
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
November 10, 2013
Like the first novel, this one makes use of long standing relationship. It is dark, but the humor comes from the relationship between the Marshal and his wife, a marriage of mutual respect, love, and frustration. The pacing was slower than the first, and it seemed to make the book drag a little.
February 3, 2021
More to learn
Every story reveals more about the Marshall. The plot unwinds toward a solution in clever ways. As always, the description of the culture and setting add interest and depth to the story.
Every story reveals more about the Marshall. The plot unwinds toward a solution in clever ways. As always, the description of the culture and setting add interest and depth to the story.
February 14, 2022
August in Italy, everything shuts down. People take their holidays to get away from the heat. The Marshal now has his wife with him in the Carabinieri barracks. This allows for some touching moments, and at one point she is even able to fill in some information for him regarding connections with an official from their home village in Sicily, also relocated to Florence, who has been helpful to the Marshal on his current case.
The case: a madwoman, Clementina, a supposed suicide but the Marshal knows it’s murder. What he doesn’t know is who she is or why anyone would want to kill her. It’s a convoluted investigation that involves talking to people and getting involved in their “little problems”—which the prosecutor dismisses but most of which turn out to be somehow relevant to the case, or at least in helping the Marshal to solve it.
Along the way, the author brings our attention to an issue that has affected most modern Western nations: the closure of Asylums that formerly housed psychiatric patients, from severe, lifelong cases to those in need of short-term care. Though large-scale institutions are no longer the norm for caring for society’s vulnerable, not much thought (or funding) has been given to adequate replacement care. This is the story of one woman who seemingly fell through the cracks.
Recommended. Can be read as a standalone, but works better if you are familiar with the series.
The case: a madwoman, Clementina, a supposed suicide but the Marshal knows it’s murder. What he doesn’t know is who she is or why anyone would want to kill her. It’s a convoluted investigation that involves talking to people and getting involved in their “little problems”—which the prosecutor dismisses but most of which turn out to be somehow relevant to the case, or at least in helping the Marshal to solve it.
Along the way, the author brings our attention to an issue that has affected most modern Western nations: the closure of Asylums that formerly housed psychiatric patients, from severe, lifelong cases to those in need of short-term care. Though large-scale institutions are no longer the norm for caring for society’s vulnerable, not much thought (or funding) has been given to adequate replacement care. This is the story of one woman who seemingly fell through the cracks.
Recommended. Can be read as a standalone, but works better if you are familiar with the series.
January 17, 2025
🍷
This series continues to captivate. Nabb specialized in the quiet, the humble, the quotidian. Her Marshal Guarnaccia couldn’t be more low key than he is, and the charm of these mysteries resides in his milieu and the people who live therein.
Here, on a hot August day, the Marshal sees a neighborhood disturbance while off duty, but nevertheless goes to settle things down. He discovers Clementina, the local madwoman, causing another spectacle. As soon as things calm down, he leaves to continue his personal activities; but the next morning he receives word that Clementina has been found dead in her miniscula apartment. At first characterized as a suicide, Guarnaccia knows it isn’t that but murder, and he becomes intent on discovering who did it, and why.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
This series continues to captivate. Nabb specialized in the quiet, the humble, the quotidian. Her Marshal Guarnaccia couldn’t be more low key than he is, and the charm of these mysteries resides in his milieu and the people who live therein.
Here, on a hot August day, the Marshal sees a neighborhood disturbance while off duty, but nevertheless goes to settle things down. He discovers Clementina, the local madwoman, causing another spectacle. As soon as things calm down, he leaves to continue his personal activities; but the next morning he receives word that Clementina has been found dead in her miniscula apartment. At first characterized as a suicide, Guarnaccia knows it isn’t that but murder, and he becomes intent on discovering who did it, and why.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
February 10, 2017
This is the first book in this series that I have read and I felt I was starting a little behind. It seemed it was assumed the reader would already know who the Marshal was and what his position was. Only I didn’t and I had a little trouble figuring out how he fit into the Florence law enforcement structure. The beginning felt a little slow but that helped set the stage for the slow pace of all of Florence in August. There are a lot of interesting characters here and they are all written so they feel real and believable. And the Marshall becomes involved with all of them, as every witness and suspect seems to have a problem that the Marshall tries to fix even though he has a murder to solve. And as he tries to figure out who this old madwoman was he learns about the floods that devastated lives in years past, delves into the plight of the mentally ill and tries to work within the tight knit community that has its own rules. So the book has a lot of parts. But they are all woven in seamlessly so nothing feel extraneous or out of place and the book is about the community and the people and not just this one case. I liked the writing and the story but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the others in the series so I would know the history of the characters that I feel like I was missing.
September 13, 2017
Excellent read. Set in Florence. A credible and very relatable police detective, Marshal Garnaccia, 'absorbed, inexorable, following his instinct'. I will be spending time with him again. Well drawn coverage of actual events/places: Flood of the Arno 1966, San Salvi Asylum. ...and then there is Giulio!
Several thought provoking asides... Troubling evolution of government-sponsored mental health system in civilized society. Touching view of survival in a flood zone, especially when read on the heels of Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
Several thought provoking asides... Troubling evolution of government-sponsored mental health system in civilized society. Touching view of survival in a flood zone, especially when read on the heels of Hurricane Harvey in Houston.
June 20, 2021
Mir gefällt der Maresciallo - er ist so menschlich und ein sympathischer Zeitgenosse. Auch ansonsten wird in dem Fall um die Ermordung der verrückten Clementina viel darauf geachtet, die Menschen plastisch darzustellen und ihnen Leben einzuhauchen.
Der Fall selbst wird auch dank der Informationen gelöst, die der Maresciallo von Leuten bekommt, um deren "kleine persönliche Probleme" er sich kümmert - es hängt halt doch alles irgendwie zusammen.
Am Ende hat man allerdings irgendwie das Gefühl, man habe nicht alle Infos bekommen. Aber das tut dem guten allgemeinen Eindruck nur wenig Abbruch.
Der Fall selbst wird auch dank der Informationen gelöst, die der Maresciallo von Leuten bekommt, um deren "kleine persönliche Probleme" er sich kümmert - es hängt halt doch alles irgendwie zusammen.
Am Ende hat man allerdings irgendwie das Gefühl, man habe nicht alle Infos bekommen. Aber das tut dem guten allgemeinen Eindruck nur wenig Abbruch.
December 27, 2021
A disturbed woman, a neighborhood ‘character’ whose life is otherwise a blank, is killed. As usual, the Marshal pays attention to the little things and makes the connections that others have missed or don’t even care about. It’s the little people’s little lives that matter and by recovering the victim’s biography he solves the crime. The mystery itself is a bit pro forma but the stories are good.
May 15, 2017
I liked al the Marshal Guarnaccia novels I've read so far, but this one I found even better than the previous. Maybe because of the human way the Marshal approaches the case of this unfortunate woman and her sad story.
July 23, 2017
This was the best of the Guarnaccia mysteries I have read so far, really enjoyed how Ms Nadav developed his character throughout the book.
August 8, 2018
I've read several of Nabb's books in the Marshal Guarnaccia series and enjoyed them all. The tempo was a little faster throughout this book and especially in the run up to the ending.
May 31, 2021
Loving this series more and more ...
October 8, 2023
Very enjoyable but not a great crime novel. The characters, the setting and the details of everyday urban life are the things that make the book well worth a read.
Read
November 15, 2024August in Florence, dealing with the effects of a twenty year old flood.
February 2, 2010
First Sentence: In spite of themselves, they paused at the edge of the stone kerb.
It is hot, humid August in Florence and the city is nearly empty of residents. Attempting to teach his wife to drive, Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, of the carabinieri, comes across some of his men in an ancient quarter of the city. A nearly naked woman is causing disruption by shouting down to a crowd, which is encouraging her.
Days later, Guarnaccia is called out to the same quarter as the woman has been found dead by apparent suicide. But suicide it is not, and Guarnaccia wants to know who would murder this woman who was considered “not all there,” is thought by all to be poor, in spite of a thousand lira he’s found in a tin, and who has not a single photograph in her apartment.
It has taken me awhile to get into the feel of the Guarnaccia books, but they have definitely grown on me with each book.
Nabb's books are about people. Salvatore Guarnaccia has lived away from his wife because of his posting and the young men who serve under him have, in some sense, become surrogate sons as he’s been away from his own. Now that his wife is with him, it adds another dimension to the character. Guarnaccia’s wife is trying to become accustomed to being with her husband again and living in a city with which she is unfamiliar.
Nabb bring all the characters to life; the owner of the bar and somewhat head man of the small quarter in which the crime occurs and, most particularly, the victim about whose life we learn as Guarnaccis investigates her death.
The plot is very good. Guarnaccia has to deal with the frustrations of his branch not always having autonomy over their investigations. But he believes in what he does and in people. The end was wonderfully done.
Rather than having an all encompassing sense of place about Florence, I feel Nabb is acquainting us with the city one bit at a time, rather as one would discover a city. I was unfamiliar with the floor of 1966 and its vivid inclusion was not only informative but critical.
This series has a very different feel from Donna Leon’s Brunetti books, and definitely holds its own.
NOTE: The carabinieri is one of eight branches of enforcement in Italy. They are a special branch of the army with similar functions to the police, sometimes overlapping with the other branches of the police. They are particularly concerning criminal investigation. They deal with national and serious crime, including organized crime, and are Italy’s most efficient, and best funded, and professional police force. Being a military force, they are housed in barracks (caserma) in all major towns and cities,
THE MARSHAL AND THE MADWOMAN (Pol Proc-Mar. Salvatore Guarnaccia-Florence, Italy-Cont) – VG
Nabb, Magdalen – 6th in series
Scribners, 1988, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0684189844
It is hot, humid August in Florence and the city is nearly empty of residents. Attempting to teach his wife to drive, Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, of the carabinieri, comes across some of his men in an ancient quarter of the city. A nearly naked woman is causing disruption by shouting down to a crowd, which is encouraging her.
Days later, Guarnaccia is called out to the same quarter as the woman has been found dead by apparent suicide. But suicide it is not, and Guarnaccia wants to know who would murder this woman who was considered “not all there,” is thought by all to be poor, in spite of a thousand lira he’s found in a tin, and who has not a single photograph in her apartment.
It has taken me awhile to get into the feel of the Guarnaccia books, but they have definitely grown on me with each book.
Nabb's books are about people. Salvatore Guarnaccia has lived away from his wife because of his posting and the young men who serve under him have, in some sense, become surrogate sons as he’s been away from his own. Now that his wife is with him, it adds another dimension to the character. Guarnaccia’s wife is trying to become accustomed to being with her husband again and living in a city with which she is unfamiliar.
Nabb bring all the characters to life; the owner of the bar and somewhat head man of the small quarter in which the crime occurs and, most particularly, the victim about whose life we learn as Guarnaccis investigates her death.
The plot is very good. Guarnaccia has to deal with the frustrations of his branch not always having autonomy over their investigations. But he believes in what he does and in people. The end was wonderfully done.
Rather than having an all encompassing sense of place about Florence, I feel Nabb is acquainting us with the city one bit at a time, rather as one would discover a city. I was unfamiliar with the floor of 1966 and its vivid inclusion was not only informative but critical.
This series has a very different feel from Donna Leon’s Brunetti books, and definitely holds its own.
NOTE: The carabinieri is one of eight branches of enforcement in Italy. They are a special branch of the army with similar functions to the police, sometimes overlapping with the other branches of the police. They are particularly concerning criminal investigation. They deal with national and serious crime, including organized crime, and are Italy’s most efficient, and best funded, and professional police force. Being a military force, they are housed in barracks (caserma) in all major towns and cities,
THE MARSHAL AND THE MADWOMAN (Pol Proc-Mar. Salvatore Guarnaccia-Florence, Italy-Cont) – VG
Nabb, Magdalen – 6th in series
Scribners, 1988, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0684189844
January 12, 2016
Coincidentally we close in on what would have been Magdalen Nabb's 69th birthday as I completed this delightful and wholly satisfying work with a nicely (in the original sense of that adverb) tidy ending too.
Also, as some kind of cruel and revealing serendipity I read The Marshall and the Madwoman right on the heels of an aborted struggle through Amy Myers' second Tom Wasp book. What a contrast! Myers' effort a lumpy porridge of good intentions, Nabb's a temperately sweet, smooth and very yummy chocolate sauce!
It is then with sadness I understand that Nabb left this world back in '07 but it seems she died as she enjoyed her life, after some rigorous horse riding and that rather suits her oeuvre I suspect: She knew what she was doing, she did it very well and would continue to do it her way, despite others' well meaning suggestions.
With plots meticulously planned and a protagonist lovingly researched and honoured, Nabb's "Marshall Guarnaccia" series features a stolid sort of dependable character I know may not be flashy enough for contemporary readers but he surely has his secure place against today's angst-ridden, formula-flawed heros in this field of fiction. Against the terrors of our contemporary world, Nabb admitted in interviews that she was well aware of the almost visceral need for stability. The Marshall character and his compassionate insight through apparent plodding methods achieves this reassurance with loving personableness. Nabb weaves her plots deliberately and surely, revealing the narrative puzzle largely through nuanced dialogue with all the elegance of a wonderfully confident writer. We the readers can relax in the arms of this master storyteller and enjoy the ride. What a relief! What a delight!
That I think for me is the most important part of any novel...the (surprise surprise) actual writing! The craft. The skill with words. Whatever you want to call it. If I am uncomfortable with the way the 'leader' is walking in front of me, stumbling regularly, circling about, wandering off into pointless directions, losing the plot literally and figuratively, I simply bail. I'm away. I have to deal with enough ignorant unskilled writing in real life, I don't need to waste my recreational life on poor word smithing as 'entertainment'!
And so Magdalen Nabb is worthy of the highest praise, and had she lived longer she surely would have been made a Dame or some similar accolade for the quality of her contributions in both adult and childrens' fiction in hardcover and in the wonderfully evocative Josie Smith Granada TV series.
As it is, Magdalen Nabb may have passed into that "absent-so-forgotten" category of writers from the immediate past, too often and shamefully overlooked in our rush into an Attention Deficit-fueled, Hi-Tech Age. Return to her, lovers of good writing, and enjoy the ride!
Also, as some kind of cruel and revealing serendipity I read The Marshall and the Madwoman right on the heels of an aborted struggle through Amy Myers' second Tom Wasp book. What a contrast! Myers' effort a lumpy porridge of good intentions, Nabb's a temperately sweet, smooth and very yummy chocolate sauce!
It is then with sadness I understand that Nabb left this world back in '07 but it seems she died as she enjoyed her life, after some rigorous horse riding and that rather suits her oeuvre I suspect: She knew what she was doing, she did it very well and would continue to do it her way, despite others' well meaning suggestions.
With plots meticulously planned and a protagonist lovingly researched and honoured, Nabb's "Marshall Guarnaccia" series features a stolid sort of dependable character I know may not be flashy enough for contemporary readers but he surely has his secure place against today's angst-ridden, formula-flawed heros in this field of fiction. Against the terrors of our contemporary world, Nabb admitted in interviews that she was well aware of the almost visceral need for stability. The Marshall character and his compassionate insight through apparent plodding methods achieves this reassurance with loving personableness. Nabb weaves her plots deliberately and surely, revealing the narrative puzzle largely through nuanced dialogue with all the elegance of a wonderfully confident writer. We the readers can relax in the arms of this master storyteller and enjoy the ride. What a relief! What a delight!
That I think for me is the most important part of any novel...the (surprise surprise) actual writing! The craft. The skill with words. Whatever you want to call it. If I am uncomfortable with the way the 'leader' is walking in front of me, stumbling regularly, circling about, wandering off into pointless directions, losing the plot literally and figuratively, I simply bail. I'm away. I have to deal with enough ignorant unskilled writing in real life, I don't need to waste my recreational life on poor word smithing as 'entertainment'!
And so Magdalen Nabb is worthy of the highest praise, and had she lived longer she surely would have been made a Dame or some similar accolade for the quality of her contributions in both adult and childrens' fiction in hardcover and in the wonderfully evocative Josie Smith Granada TV series.
As it is, Magdalen Nabb may have passed into that "absent-so-forgotten" category of writers from the immediate past, too often and shamefully overlooked in our rush into an Attention Deficit-fueled, Hi-Tech Age. Return to her, lovers of good writing, and enjoy the ride!
March 16, 2008
03/15/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: THE MARSHAL AND THE MADWOMAN
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery, 1988, 223 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: #6 in the Marshal Guarnaccia series
TIME/PLACE: 1980's, Florence, Italy
CHARACTERS: Salvatore Guarnaccia, a marshal in the Italian Carabinieri in Florence, Italy
FIRST LINES: In spite of themselves they paused at the edge of the stone kerb.
COMMENTS: 01/17/08 got from MOTB for upcoming discussion 03/16. Very methodical, matter-of-fact -- police procedural. Really enjoyed this & will look for more by Nabb. During the sweltering summer months in Florence, many close their businesses & go away to somewhere cooler for vacation. Marshal Guarnaccia & his wife have been away in July & leave their boys w/ relatives for the month of August. The Marshal and his wife come across an area of town where there are some shops open and become acquainted w/ some of the residents including the local eccentric madwoman, Clementina, who is never w/o her broom incessantly cleaning the streets. When she is found dead w/ her head by the stove it is considered a suicide until it is noticed that there wasn't enough gas left to be fatal. Clemetina has lived in the village for some time but very little is known of her background. Marshal Guarnaccia must delve into her past to find out who would want her dead. She has lived very frugally, the neighbors looked out for her and usually dropped off food, it doesn't appear that Clementina could be murdered for her money nor that she has any relatives.
TITLE/AUTHOR: THE MARSHAL AND THE MADWOMAN
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery, 1988, 223 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: #6 in the Marshal Guarnaccia series
TIME/PLACE: 1980's, Florence, Italy
CHARACTERS: Salvatore Guarnaccia, a marshal in the Italian Carabinieri in Florence, Italy
FIRST LINES: In spite of themselves they paused at the edge of the stone kerb.
COMMENTS: 01/17/08 got from MOTB for upcoming discussion 03/16. Very methodical, matter-of-fact -- police procedural. Really enjoyed this & will look for more by Nabb. During the sweltering summer months in Florence, many close their businesses & go away to somewhere cooler for vacation. Marshal Guarnaccia & his wife have been away in July & leave their boys w/ relatives for the month of August. The Marshal and his wife come across an area of town where there are some shops open and become acquainted w/ some of the residents including the local eccentric madwoman, Clementina, who is never w/o her broom incessantly cleaning the streets. When she is found dead w/ her head by the stove it is considered a suicide until it is noticed that there wasn't enough gas left to be fatal. Clemetina has lived in the village for some time but very little is known of her background. Marshal Guarnaccia must delve into her past to find out who would want her dead. She has lived very frugally, the neighbors looked out for her and usually dropped off food, it doesn't appear that Clementina could be murdered for her money nor that she has any relatives.
November 23, 2010
Jacket Notes: “Marshal Guarnaccia remembered the plump, nude figure, bursting with life and vibrant with anger, shaking her fist at her neighbors...They called her a madwoman, and now she lay lifeless on her kitchen floor. Only a few meager belongings give Guarnaccia any clues to her life. There aren't even any family photographs that might provide a key. The discovery that someone else is more than a little interested in the death and a visit to the city’s mental hospital, are only the first steps into the madwoman's mysterious past. They lead the marshal down a path that stretches back twenty- five years, to a series of events that changed many lives forever. “
Another great Marshal Guarnaccia novel from Magdalen Nabb, the 6th in the series. Guarnaccia’s plodding, methodical, and often scatterbrained way of solving a mystery becomes more endearing in each book. In this book, which takes place in the hot days of August in Florence, Guarnaccia muddles his way through the heat to find out what really lies behind the murder of the crazy woman. And as usual, the author wraps everything up plausibly while at the same time giving you another great idea of what life was like in this Italian city.
Another great Marshal Guarnaccia novel from Magdalen Nabb, the 6th in the series. Guarnaccia’s plodding, methodical, and often scatterbrained way of solving a mystery becomes more endearing in each book. In this book, which takes place in the hot days of August in Florence, Guarnaccia muddles his way through the heat to find out what really lies behind the murder of the crazy woman. And as usual, the author wraps everything up plausibly while at the same time giving you another great idea of what life was like in this Italian city.
January 26, 2016
The beginning of the book was a bit long and drawn out, but once we got into the tragic history of Clementina (Anna Franci) the story really picked-up.
Clementina went around the town frantically cleaning the street on a daily basis. Some days she would allow herself to be teased by the locals other days she would shout abuses at them. The people all knew her & the women looked after her by taking turns bringing her food every evening...
One evening Clementina calls the Carabineri because someone has been trying to break into her flat. The owner of the local bar goes home with her, but finds no one there.... Two days later Clementina is found dead with her head in her oven....but, there wasn't enough gas in the tank to kill a bird!
So Marshal Guarnaccia sets out to find the murderer. What I did find fascinating, is that the Marshal actually spoke at quite some length trying to get the henchman to talk.... He usually just ruminates and rarely says much....
I do plan on finishing the series.
Clementina went around the town frantically cleaning the street on a daily basis. Some days she would allow herself to be teased by the locals other days she would shout abuses at them. The people all knew her & the women looked after her by taking turns bringing her food every evening...
One evening Clementina calls the Carabineri because someone has been trying to break into her flat. The owner of the local bar goes home with her, but finds no one there.... Two days later Clementina is found dead with her head in her oven....but, there wasn't enough gas in the tank to kill a bird!
So Marshal Guarnaccia sets out to find the murderer. What I did find fascinating, is that the Marshal actually spoke at quite some length trying to get the henchman to talk.... He usually just ruminates and rarely says much....
I do plan on finishing the series.
November 16, 2020
It is a hot and humid August in Florence and much of the city is shuttered. The Marshal comes into a neighborhood where the local eccentric woman has apparently committed suicide. But he knows better and slowly and deliberately, as is his way, he determines the truth, helping numerous other people caught in various webs along the way. I can see why not everyone might enjoy this series, it certainly is not flashy, but the humaneness of the Marshal, his humility and his care, make him one of my favorite "detectives". And Nabb's Florence is a real place, one that the Marshal persistently walks and sweats through.
January 3, 2008
Magdalen Nabb was another writer of mysteries set in Italy who, like Michael Dibdin, died in 2007. Her protagonist, Guarnaccia, is one of the Carabinieri, which as far as I can tell, is a quasi-military national police force; whereas Donna Leon's Brunetti is a local Venetian policeman. Guarnaccia therefore is a bit of an outsider and this makes for an interesting tale.
March 26, 2010
A tightly woven mystery involving the murder of a beloved neighborhood character. The following investigation lead by Marshal Guarnaccia explores her fascinating tightly-knit community full of equally intriguing characters, as well as a retracing of the victim's knotty past history of pain and torment. A mystery that contains a beautifully drawn portrait of Florence and its people with it.
October 19, 2014
Marshal Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri is drawn into investigating the apparent suicide of a woman whom her neighbors helped even though they all regarded her as somewhat crazy. Set in Florence, ultimately the murder is tied to events in the city’s not too distant past. The marshal is a master not only of investigative procedure, but also of human psychology.
May 25, 2016
Marvelous Salvatore!
Salvatore plods along amidst neighborhood turmoil in Florence in the heat of August. He relies on his instincts and pays attention to the little things in life which eventually steer him in the right direction. Maggie Nabb pieces together the bits of people's lives along with wonderful settings on her way to enthralling the reader right up to the end.!
Salvatore plods along amidst neighborhood turmoil in Florence in the heat of August. He relies on his instincts and pays attention to the little things in life which eventually steer him in the right direction. Maggie Nabb pieces together the bits of people's lives along with wonderful settings on her way to enthralling the reader right up to the end.!
November 26, 2011
Eine Frau ist tot. Es ist selbstmord. Oder ist es? Clementina ist ein bisschen verrückt. Sie hat schon viel schlechtes erlebt. Aber Guarnaccia hat alles herausgefunden. Und was eine Geschichte! Das Ende habe ich nicht erwartet. Die Geschichte passiert in Florenz.
July 4, 2008
I loved this book!
July 15, 2015
Spannender Krimi, toll geschrieben.
April 6, 2016
I haven't read of of Ms Nabb's books for years and I was pleasantly reminded of her skill. The description of the Florence neighbourhood and the flood are effective and engaging.
October 13, 2016
Gave up on this one. For one thing, not happy with the translation.
September 1, 2011
Like Donna Leon's Venetian series better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews