A Fine Italian Hand

Shifty Lou Anderson #9

by William Murray

There's no better writer than Murray working today. —New York Daily News

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

William Murray was an American fiction editor and staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years. He wrote a series of mystery novels set in the world of horse racing, many featuring Shifty Lou Anderson, a professional magician and horseplayer. Among his many contributions to The New Yorker was the magazine's "Letters from Italy" of which he was the sole author. The majority of his later years were spent living in Del Mar, California, "exactly 3.2 miles from the finish line" of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Murray died in March 2005 at age 78. Just prior to his death, Murray had completed a book about Chicago's Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.

Reviews

[Christopher Manske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shifty Lou Anderson gambles on horse races and makes a living doing close-up magic. These activities often put him in interesting places at the right time for readers who delight in his particular approach to solving murder mysteries. In A Fine Italian Hand, Shifty is in Italy and gets roped into representing the American father who wants justice for his daughter, a young model murdered in strange circumstances. With twists, turns, fist fights, and bomb threats, Murray offers readers an engaging illusion worthy of any magician and the great reveal at the end will be astounding to all. Fun, easy to read, hard to put down... an excellent book!

[Eddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's just a product of its time, written in 1996, but the main character seemed like a schmuck. The mystery wasn't revealed til almost last page, but the story along the way didn't give any clues....we'll written, but not a fan of the characters or story.