Alta moda.

Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery #11

by Magdalen Nabb

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Mystery, Italy, Crime, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

MAGDALEN 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

Reviews

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Sentence: I’ll do my best to tell you everything but the things I remember are perhaps not what you need.

Kidnap is big business in Italy. An American-born model who married an Italian aristocrat worked for years to rebuild the family’s fortune and reputation after her husband squandered it all away. Now, she has been kidnapped and the crime reported to Marshal Guarnaccia by the daughter. Having established first contact, Guarnaccia is to act as liaison to the family. He soon realizes all is not as it should be and he also quietly works with his counterpart in the Tuscan hills, home of the Sardinian sheep families who are often involved in such kidnappings.

What a powerful, painful and scary opening! Yet at no point do you want to stop or turn away. As much as anything else, this is the story of a family and a strong woman. Much of the story takes us through her experience through a monologue that is as interesting as the investigation. It becomes easy to see how and why the “Stockholm Syndrome” comes to be. The story is also a condemnation of Italy’s kidnap laws and the judicial system.
The book has such a strong sense of place and of proprietary. At one point, the Marshal doesn’t feel it is his place to question some people.

The Marshal, which is his rank within the Carabinieri—the law enforcement branch which is part of the army yet concerned with criminal investigation, serious crime and organized crime—is a fascinating character. By his rank, he is a non-commissioned officer, somewhat equivalent to a sergeant. He is something of a plodder; a thinker and an observer…”The Marshal pursued his usual policy of interrogation. That is, he kept quiet.” He doesn’t rush about, but mulls the tiny details. He isn’t a Colombo who wants people to underestimate him. He truly downplays his own intellect and significance. Although he is married with two sons, the focus is not on his family, but on him and the investigation.

“Property of Blood” is a very good book with intriguing twists. More than a mystery, it is a character study. Sadly, I’ve only three books left to read in this series.

PROPERTY OF BLOOD (Pol Proc-Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, Florence, Italy, Contemp) – VG+
Nabb, Magdalen – 11th in series
Soho, 1999

[Candy Wood]

Property of Blood has a very different beginning, with Marshal Guarnaccia not appearing until about the third chapter. What might be lost in suspense because we know the kidnap victim is telling her story to the Marshal after being returned safely is made up in characterization and relationships. Unlike most police procedurals, this novel is more about relationships--among the carabinieri, the Marshal’s family, the kidnap victim’s family--than about crime. As I approach the end of this series, I realize that I will miss it. I’m also glad, though, that I own the remaining books as books. The Kindle edition of this one is plagued by distracting typos such as a capital T where the pronoun I at the beginning of a sentence of dialogue should be, and words like title becoming tide. All easily decipherable, but still distracting.

[Kb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is slightly different from other Marshal Guarnaccia books because it starts with a first-person account by a kidnapping victim. Because of this, we know she survives the ordeal, which is somewhat comforting, until we find out the devastation that is wrought upon her family relationships as a result of the kidnapping. In a way, that is harder to read and absorb than graphic descriptions of violence and gore.

I am sad to be coming to the end of this short series. Magdalen Nabb left us too early.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unfortunately late Ms. Nabb is new to me. (I'm reading her stuff while visiting my parents, who are big mystery fans.) Her Marshal Whosiewhatsis is an underrated cop, although the story doesn't really revolve around him.

Donna Leon covers the same territory but these are starker. Not as much texture, maybe, but not as much blah blah blah, either.

Worth a shot if you want a change of pace from American or British settings.

[David C Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kidnapping and a family drama in the household of the abducted woman, both well done. The political economy of kidnapping as well as Italian police tactics is interesting. Also, if you’re a Sardinian gangster, try to get along with the other gang leaders, it’s prudent in the long run. The Marshal is particularly acute in this one and there’s a delightful older aristocratic woman who is smart enough to recognize the Marshal’s worth.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a strange book, both sad and slightly confusing... ostensibly about a kidnapping of a successful woman but in reality about a dysfunctional family. Not sure what I felt. Slow in parts and slightly jagged. Not your traditional crime novel...

[Tom Jenckes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd been away from the Marshall for too long. According to him, he doesn't investigate, he just listens. He does manage to put things together. He doesn't miss a trick. He's there when you need him. Quiet, self-effacing, alert, aware. What a delight to follow.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The experience of a kidnapped Contessa is recounted in excruciating detail which made for difficult reading at times. It was pretty easy to figure out the mystery.

[Kin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un sequestro di persona molto ben raccontato, con evidenziati i risvolti psicologici interessanti vittima , familiari e colpevoli. Scrittura semplice ma assai puntuale. Ottimo.

[Abi Salazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me gustan los libros policiacos, en este caso disfrute de la parte investigativa de la novela, buscar al culpable, lidiar con la familia, sin embargo, el misterio se ve disminuido por el hecho de que el principio se sabe que la víctima sobrevive, ya que el libro abre con una narración en primera persona.

Además, al ser una narración en primera persona los detalles son muy crudos, hasta el punto de ser incómodos. Especialmente al principio, cuando describe todo el proceso del secuestro, cegarla, ensordecerla y encadenarla, demasiado explícito para mi gusto personal. Al menos no hubo intancias de abuso sexual, al menos no explícito.

En cuanto a los personajes, dios mío, la familia es la cosa más disfuncional que he visto, el libro insiste en que Caterina es de carácter débil, pero yo veo que todo mundo tiene carácter débil menos ella. Todos la dejan hacer lo que quiera, el hermano la deja tomar todas las necesidades aunque eso implique que maten a la madre. Y todo lo justifica alegando que eso es mejor y que no hay que provocarla cuando todos saben que está loca y nadie la aprecia, pero nadie hace absolutamente nada.

La madre es igual o peor que su hijo, todo les justifica a los dos y su única respuesta es darles más después de que casi le cuesta la vida la actitud de sus hijos, porque de los dos no se hace uno. Entre la hija que básicamente la quería muerta y el hijo que no puede defenderse son bastante frustrantes.

No es malo el libro en sí, es solo que de alguna forma el secuestro y la parte policiaca pasan a un segundo plano para centrarse en la disfunción familiar, haciendo que las partes dedicadas al secuestro se sientan como un elemento de shock más que una parte importante de la trama.

[Reggie Billingsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a family member turns out to be quietly nuts...and many times not so quietly...that can cause all kinds of dysfunctional mayhem and so this tale of abduction is more a portrait of how a strong woman can be so easily betrayed by too easily influenced offspring....as well as an indictment of the apparent official acceptance of kidnapping as a kind of legitimate (?) trade in Italy.
The Marshal is his usual truly quiet self and his all-understanding spouse a delight to revisit. The descriptions of Florence in any season is evocative and the overall well balanced Nab style ever impresses one.

[Michelle Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener, I'm sure the author knows what she is talking about, kidnapping in Italy. We are not rich said the people, but they are, the kidnappers are professionals and they know their business. They know who to kidnap. This book was very good at going between the now and than ie the released kidnapped and the time where she is with her gaolers. I enjoyed the book and will read more Magdalen Nabb's prose. I just found out that Ms Nabb is no longer with us. A shame.

[Reader Vermeulen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall a nice book and a good storyline, but some sections are obviously there to fill the pages. It’s not always clear about what character she’s writing, something you’ll find after 2-3 sentences. The main character is a relief and I love the way Magdalen describes him. We don’t always need superhero’s and way above intelligent detective’s.

[Aurica Estelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was intense!! The story is basically about the kidnapping of a wealthy middleaged italian woman. The point of view is always switching between the inspectors and the kidnapped contessa. It was super intense for me to read because you get a 100% unfiltered view of the emotions& actions of a kidnapped woman and how she tries to keep herself alive. So good!!

[Matisse Verelst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia Birkett, ex-vrouw van een Italiaanse Conte wordt ontvoerd voor geld.

Vertelling uit perspectief van Olivia en onderzoeker Maresciallo.

[George M]

The Marshall outwits kidnappers. She finds a soulmate in her captor.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.75

The head of a prominent Italian fashion house, Contesssa Olivia Brunamonti is an American who married an Italian count. Largely by her own efforts, she has built a comfortable life for herself and her two adult children. A gang of kidnappers has targeted her daughter, Caterina, but abducted Olivia by mistake. She is now being held for ransom in the Tuscan hills. Certain that her children will pay the ransom quickly, Olivia does not dream of the trials that she will have to endure. Either through ignorance or greed, the ransom is not paid, and Olivia is held captive for a long period of time. It is not a comfortable incarceration. She is blindfolded at all times and rendered almost deaf so that she cannot hear the voices of her captors. There is one man who she dubs the "Woodcutter" who serves as her protector and provides her with some comforts.

Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia is a member of the Florence police force and is assigned to work with the family to obtain Olivia's release. As he interviews her family and friends, he reveals the ugly truth about the dynamics of the family. Olivia has been a loving and caring mother, but it appears that her affections may have been misplaced and even resented. It's very sad to see the return that she receives on what she has invested in her children.

The book is largely told from Olivia's point of view and recounts in detail her experiences while imprisoned. What at first seems cruel and cold in reality turns out to be an experience that opens her mind to the important things in her life. It's almost like she is undergoing an extended period of meditation. Once she adjusts to the physical discomforts, she survives the ordeal with great dignity.

I had to learn to live inside my head and to call on a lifetime of sounds and images that were stored there. I had to learn not to cry. I had to learn to eat out of duty and without hunger. I had to learn not to admit hearing those few things I could hear and not to react to deliberate torment. I had to learn to accept pain and immobility quietly so that I wouldn't go mad. I had to learn to be passive when I had always been active. I had always thought of myself as a fighter but now I had to lay down my arms. If I wanted to live, I had to stay quietly inside my body and just be.

This eleventh book in the Guarnaccia series does not disappoint until the conclusion of the book. The actual release of Olivia is really not described in detail, how the events that led up to it transpired. For some reason, after Olivia is freed, Nabb chose to stray from her point of view. Thus, the reader never really sees the impact of Olivia's return to "civilization" and how her family is interacting with each other after their failures to live up to their obligation to save their mother. The resolution was extremely disappointing in that Nabb had so beautifully engaged us in Olivia's mind and soul. At the conclusion, we were at a distance from her and it was not very satisfying and some of her actions didn't seem consistent with her character.

That being said, Nabb is a superlative writer whose low-key protagonist carries the investigation forward flawlessly and without pretention. Characterization is definitely the strongest aspect of Nabb's writing, and her prose is elegant.

[Elaine H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the quote from page 100-101

" 'What's the matter with you?' was his wife's first remark...'Nothing'....Teresa sighed. He always turned up in the kitchen when he would be most in her way, and in all the years they had been married she had never given up trying to throw him out. The kitchen wasn't especially big and he took up a lot of room. However, the years had taught her that if he got out of uniform and showered before presenting himself, he was looking for a hug and a chance to sniff and taste whatever was cooking for supper. The black, silent form she saw looming out of the corner of her eye meant trouble...'Do get out of my way, Salva.' He shifted a few centimetres and stuck again. 'Why don't you go watch the news?' No answer. 'We're having spaghetti alla mollica'...
'Where are the boys?'... He stood drinking in the comforting sound of her voice and felt better.
'Now where are you going?'
'I thought I'd watch the news. What's for supper?'...."

& again on page 108

" 'MI6, yes.' Though peaceable at the moment, there was an edge to his voice that said he would become dangerous if annoyed. Fusarri did not annoy him. He offered him a cigar and made the Marshal step forward and be introduced, happy in his conviction that no amount of years in the Service would prepare anyone to cope with Guarnaccia's bulging-eyed silences."

A very good read. Marshal Guarnaccia is an intuitive investigator, absorbing information as it is presented & making connections without using force. He is a humble self-deprecating unassuming character. He is likened physically to an English bulldog in appearance, and in his tenacity when it comes to figuring out who's playing what part in the puzzle. All around him the florentine attitudes are the sea he swims in. I look forward to reading more in this series.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacket notes: “Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, a Sicilian officer of the carabinieri stationed in Florence, is faced with the horrendous kidnapping for ransom of a lovely Contessa.
Olivia, an American-born model, married Count Ugo Brunamonti, a feckless, soon impoverished aristocrat. After his death, she supported her children--Leonardo and Caterina--by starting a fashion house which has prospered. When she is kidnapped, the crime is reported to Marshal Guarnaccia by her daughter, who may have been the intended victim.”

This is the 11th book in the Marshal Guarnaccia series by Magdalen Nabb. Each book gets better and better as Nabb’s main characters grow and become more complex. Marshal Guarnaccia is one of my favourite crime/mystery solvers. I love his solid pace when it comes to figuring things out, much in the way a bulldog plods along to the finish. I also like how Nabb takes a simple plot, a kidnapping, and turns it upside down by viewing all sides of the story.

Another good book in the series...only a few more books to go until the last one that Magdalen Nabb wrote before her death in 2007.

[Deborah Moulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to say you "like" a book like this, but you can't argue with the intelligence of the writing. It goes into minute detail of what it is like to be kidnapped by organized crime. You live moment by moment, the agony of Contessa Olivia Brunamonti as her captors painfully blind her with tape and fill her ears with cotton and wax to deafen her from the outside world. The pain is excruciating as months go by without a word or a demand.

Her captors had originally targeted her daughter which would have been better for them. The Contessa has survived an insane husband, then rescued and rebuilt his fortunes so her children would have an inheritance. She would have done anything to get her child back.

Unfortunately, her two children are in charge and they are as weak and mad as her husband had been. Although she is eventually found and freed by the Marshal and his Carabinieri, they can't save her from the indifference of her children.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's lovely when a mystery author takes you to a place that you've been as a tourist and takes you into another level of that place you never knew existed. Magdalen Nabb does this for the historic city of Florence, giving a fine portrait of both local color and politics. The other two mysteries I've read by Nabb were difficult for me to get into, with dense writing and a lack of depth to the characters. That changed in 'Property of Blood', with the first person narration of being kidnapped and held for ransom, and the exploration of the main character's passion for police work. The dynamics of the victim's family were complex and intriguing, and while there's no murder at the center of the plot, there is no pat ending. Emotionally realistic mysteries are hard to do, but Nabb managed it with finesse without sacrificing suspense.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Property of Blood is another Marshal mystery involving a kidnapping. The Marshal is more central to the investigations this time and his observations of family dynamics and his gentle pressure, help bring the case to some resolution. Several chapters are written from the point of view of the kidnapped and these chapters, plus the family detail, were frustrating, each for the sense of helplessness they created. The Marshal, concerned about one of his own son's schoolwork, cannot get through to the privileged and damaged family he is trying to help. These mysteries remain addictive, even this one, which is not my favorite.

[Annegret · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Alta Moda" von Magdalen Nabb ist ein guter italienischer Krimi. Die Autorin versteht es, die Spannung durchgehend aufrecht zu erhalten. Ich bin begeistert von der bildhaften Beschreibung der Umgebung. Man fühlt sich gleich in die Gegend hineinversetzt. Auch die Protagonisten sind sehr gut dargestellt, so daß man sich gleich in sie hineinversetzen kann.

Über den Anfang bin ich ein wenig gestolpert, bin aber für meine Ausdauer belohnt worden.

Ich werde gewiss noch weitere Geschichten von Magdalen Nabb lesen!

[Vin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book was like listening to a rambling drunk tell a story: plenty of pointless details and characters (what was the point of the private investigator) and ruminations on life, and little in the way of a tightly-paced story. The characters were uninteresting, unlikable, or both: the mother is pitiable, the children are respectively spineless and irrationally horrible, and the other characters (the police officers, boyfriend, etc.) have nothing that makes them distinguishable or interesting.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was gruesome but definitely held my interest.

A Contessa is kidnapped by mistake.....and the book opens with her telling of her experience from the moment of her kidnapping to just before her rescue and continues after the kidnappers are caught, but the story doesn't end there.....

One of her children refused to pay the ransom.....insanity runs ripe.

It's a Thriller for sure.

[John Form · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a few of Ms. Nabb's books and this one was my most recent read of those and it took me several tries to get into it but eventually I made it past the initial chapters and was rewarded with a different kind of mystery set in Florence. Ms. Nabb's Marshal Guarnaccia stories can move slow but I suspect this is due to fact they capture the relaxed pace of the city they call home.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a very difficult time getting into this book...I thought the first couple of chapters were enthralling, spoken from the first person of the kidnapping victim, but once the rest of the story was put into motion, it was difficult for me to keep interested. Maybe it was the translation from Italian to English?

[Fiona Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kidnapping case, in which Guarnaccia is assigned to liaise with the family. His capacities of empathy and observation are deployed to the full and he uncovers a personal as well as a financial motive.

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dark look at kidnapping in Italy, families. I'd read another one by this author. Especially as I'm curious about Florence. The descriptions of winter climate is revealing to all of us who are only there in the summers.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a most enjoyable book. The only things that kept me from giving it five stars were the beginning, that was a bit slow, and the ending, that was a bit unsatisfying. Otherwise, it was really hard to put down.