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Captain Natalia Monte #2
A Few Drops of Blood
Jan Merete Weiss’s Italy comes to life as Captain Natalia Monte of the Naples Carabiniere returns to investigate a murder committed at the heart of the great city’s art community.
When the bodies of two men are found, shockingly posed, in the garden of an elderly countess, Captain Natalia Monte of the Carabiniere is assigned the case. Soon she finds herself shuttling between Naples’s decadent art galleries and violent criminal underworld. If she is to succeed in solving the heinous crime, Natalia must deal with not only her own complicated past and allegiances, but also those of the city as a whole. A riveting and poetic exploration of the violence that lurks in the heart of beauty.
When the bodies of two men are found, shockingly posed, in the garden of an elderly countess, Captain Natalia Monte of the Carabiniere is assigned the case. Soon she finds herself shuttling between Naples’s decadent art galleries and violent criminal underworld. If she is to succeed in solving the heinous crime, Natalia must deal with not only her own complicated past and allegiances, but also those of the city as a whole. A riveting and poetic exploration of the violence that lurks in the heart of beauty.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
11 people are currently reading
337 people want to read
About the author
Jan Merete Weiss
7 books13 followersJan Merete Weiss grew up in Puerto Rico. She studied poetry and painting at the Massachusetts College of Art and received a Master’s degree from NYU. Her poems have appeared in various literary magazines. She lives in New York and lectures at Lehman College.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 14, 2020
I am torn on what to rate this book. I think it's beautifully written -- I think the author's way of describing settings is phenomenal. So much detail that is always all around us, but we often overlook as just part of the background. The characters are interesting and believable and sympathetic. The story is fine. But...
I was often confused about which character was which and needed to go back and ski to remind myself of who was connected to whom and how. The "mystery" wasn't very mysterious -- and it was solved when I wasn't looking. I mean, the main character spends all this time gathering info, following leads and suspicions. And then all of a sudden she is following up on a decision I wasn't aware she had made. It felt rushed somehow -- like figuring it out whodunnit was another colorful detail, not a big plot point.
(read this book as part of my going to Italy series -- not that I am gong now, with the plague and all)
I was often confused about which character was which and needed to go back and ski to remind myself of who was connected to whom and how. The "mystery" wasn't very mysterious -- and it was solved when I wasn't looking. I mean, the main character spends all this time gathering info, following leads and suspicions. And then all of a sudden she is following up on a decision I wasn't aware she had made. It felt rushed somehow -- like figuring it out whodunnit was another colorful detail, not a big plot point.
(read this book as part of my going to Italy series -- not that I am gong now, with the plague and all)
May 16, 2017
Accidentally picked up the second book in this series first, but oh well. Don't think I'll be going back to read the first. I really thought this would be a slam-dunk: two female lead detectives investigating crime in Naples! But unfortunately I just couldn't really get into the story. There was an odd distance, like we never got into Natalia's head. I couldn't ever get a grip on how time was progressing, either -- one minute she's all "Ugh Pino" and the next they're moving in together, with no real discussion between the two of them. I just didn't enjoy the high-level approach to storytelling. I couldn't connect with anyone and didn't really care much about what happened to them.
July 17, 2023
An uplifting, fun tale. Nice introduction to Naples and its charming people, and great character development of two female cops. Good suggestion for the old ladies' book club.
These are words that have no reference at all to this book! A better intro would be "abandon hope. all ye who enter here". In a city where criminality is apparently embedded in just about every aspect of life, two female cops are assigned to investigate two horrific murders. You would wonder why they bother, but it's a living I guess. Pointless, though, as it seems the criminal gangs solved the problem by themselves.
I won't bother reading any more of this series.
Rating 1.9.
These are words that have no reference at all to this book! A better intro would be "abandon hope. all ye who enter here". In a city where criminality is apparently embedded in just about every aspect of life, two female cops are assigned to investigate two horrific murders. You would wonder why they bother, but it's a living I guess. Pointless, though, as it seems the criminal gangs solved the problem by themselves.
I won't bother reading any more of this series.
Rating 1.9.
May 21, 2018
One of my favorite readers but for most of this book, this audiobook didn't work for me. The episodic nature of the writing isn't anchored in place and gesture so dialogues start in new locations and contexts confusing this listener so that I began to disconnect from the book. But the characters grew on me and the details about Naples intrigued. Eventually, the plot became clearer and came across less like a television show in 6 BBC episodes :D
April 27, 2018
I love to travel and I thought I would like to see Naples. But after reading 6 chapters of this book and its endless description of every 'via", street peddler, inhabitant, and dilapidated museum, aquarium and other stuff that doesn't work in Naples, I think I'll pass. Either write a good crime mystery or write a tourist guide book but, please, don't combine the two.
September 17, 2017
Second book in the Captain Natalia Monte series. Would give it 3,5 stars if I could.
I love the descriptions of Naples and the tangle the protagonist gets in with the Camorra but there isn't much personal development and the characters are rather flat.
I love the descriptions of Naples and the tangle the protagonist gets in with the Camorra but there isn't much personal development and the characters are rather flat.
December 14, 2019
Adult fiction set in Naples, Italy. Second in series is very dark, sensational subject matter (and I don't mean that in a good way), depressing, a real downer. I enjoyed Weiss' descriptions of Naples, though.
September 30, 2018
Between a 3.5 and 4.
January 20, 2024
What a great book. Our protagonist is so real, with wisdom she doesn't really know she has. The settings in Naples and near the bay are tactile and so rich. Kind of a surprising ending.
February 3, 2025
Engrossing novel with rich, accurate information about Naples!
March 22, 2021
This was actually really good, up until the shockingly abrupt cliffhanger ending. And then there aren't any more books in the series.
Wait! I'm wrong! It looks like there's a third.
Well, I know what I'll be doing this weekend.
Wait! I'm wrong! It looks like there's a third.
Well, I know what I'll be doing this weekend.
November 13, 2014
Venice has Donna Leon and her Commissario Guido Brunetti, and now Naples has Jan Merete Weiss and her Captain Natalia Monte of the Carabinieri. The author brings fully to life the historic beauty of the city, as well as its rampant poverty and nearly total control by the Napolitan version of the American mafia and its Gotti crime family: the clans of the Camorra, in particular the Scavullo family.
One of two personal problems Natalia is dealing with, or not, arises from the fact that her closest childhood friends, two women with whom she still has ties, were and each still is a cammorista. One of two things prohibited by the Carabinieri, the other being that she has become romantically involved with her partner, now taking a leave of absence. She has now been assigned a new partner, a rookie just transferred from Palermo, where she was their first Sicilian female officer.
In the opening pages, Natalia is assigned a murder case: The naked bodies of two young men have been discovered in a gruesome pose atop an enormous sculptured horse in a magnificent garden of the elderly Contessa Antonella Maria Cavazza. The men, identified as a gossip columnist and a senior curator at the Museo Archeologico, had been shot to death, the small gauge shotgun being “the traditional execution weapon of the rural mafia, a stubby weapon for hunting small game and two-legged mammals.” It soon becomes apparent that the men had been lovers. The investigation leads to many suspects, and a variety of possible motives.
This is the second novel to feature Capt. Monte, who had been promoted from the art squad to major crime investigation, with a degree in law from the officers’ school in Rome, whose career had been bright before being compromised by her choice of companions. Her former partner comes back into her life, jeopardizing both of them. She was after all his superior. Now nearing forty, she longs for a ‘normal’ private life. But as the body count rises, that must be her priority.
A beautifully written novel, including glimpses into the history of the area during and after the war and a solid murder mystery at its core, it is recommended.
One of two personal problems Natalia is dealing with, or not, arises from the fact that her closest childhood friends, two women with whom she still has ties, were and each still is a cammorista. One of two things prohibited by the Carabinieri, the other being that she has become romantically involved with her partner, now taking a leave of absence. She has now been assigned a new partner, a rookie just transferred from Palermo, where she was their first Sicilian female officer.
In the opening pages, Natalia is assigned a murder case: The naked bodies of two young men have been discovered in a gruesome pose atop an enormous sculptured horse in a magnificent garden of the elderly Contessa Antonella Maria Cavazza. The men, identified as a gossip columnist and a senior curator at the Museo Archeologico, had been shot to death, the small gauge shotgun being “the traditional execution weapon of the rural mafia, a stubby weapon for hunting small game and two-legged mammals.” It soon becomes apparent that the men had been lovers. The investigation leads to many suspects, and a variety of possible motives.
This is the second novel to feature Capt. Monte, who had been promoted from the art squad to major crime investigation, with a degree in law from the officers’ school in Rome, whose career had been bright before being compromised by her choice of companions. Her former partner comes back into her life, jeopardizing both of them. She was after all his superior. Now nearing forty, she longs for a ‘normal’ private life. But as the body count rises, that must be her priority.
A beautifully written novel, including glimpses into the history of the area during and after the war and a solid murder mystery at its core, it is recommended.
September 10, 2016
When I read the first book in this series, These Dark Things, I had mixed emotions. I absolutely loved the setting, but felt that there were problems with the plot and the characters. I'm very happy to say that A Few Drops of Blood have put most of those problems to rest.
As in the first book, the setting is superb. Since Natalia lives close to the police station, she often walks to work, to cafes, and to the shops. As she walks, her policeman's eyes are never at rest, but as she's observing, she's also mentally listing all the many reasons why she loves the city of her birth. Her musings are making me fall in love with the city as well.
The main characters are more fleshed out in this book. There have been consequences to Natalia and Pino's relationship that began in the first book, and we get to see how they are dealing with them here. The most fascinating part of Natalia's background, however, is her relationship to several females who have positions of importance within the local Camorra (crime families). These women have been close friends since they were small children going to school together. Natalia knows that her job requires her to forsake her friends, but she refuses. This insistence gives her both an edge in solving some of the cases she's assigned and a disadvantage because someone's constantly trying to force her to take a side. I admire her for her refusal to abandon her friends, and I also enjoy watching her walk a tightrope as she investigates anything that touches the Camorra.
The only thing that bothered me as I read was the fact that the plot seemed to wander from time to time. Although I was enjoying the scenic route as I turned the pages, I kept wondering when Natalia was going to settle down and actually investigate the murder of the two men. Never fear, Natalia does put all the facts and clues together-- and she reveals some very nasty thorns hidden amongst the petals that make up the beautiful city of Naples. This series is turning into something very special, and I look forward to the next installment.
As in the first book, the setting is superb. Since Natalia lives close to the police station, she often walks to work, to cafes, and to the shops. As she walks, her policeman's eyes are never at rest, but as she's observing, she's also mentally listing all the many reasons why she loves the city of her birth. Her musings are making me fall in love with the city as well.
The main characters are more fleshed out in this book. There have been consequences to Natalia and Pino's relationship that began in the first book, and we get to see how they are dealing with them here. The most fascinating part of Natalia's background, however, is her relationship to several females who have positions of importance within the local Camorra (crime families). These women have been close friends since they were small children going to school together. Natalia knows that her job requires her to forsake her friends, but she refuses. This insistence gives her both an edge in solving some of the cases she's assigned and a disadvantage because someone's constantly trying to force her to take a side. I admire her for her refusal to abandon her friends, and I also enjoy watching her walk a tightrope as she investigates anything that touches the Camorra.
The only thing that bothered me as I read was the fact that the plot seemed to wander from time to time. Although I was enjoying the scenic route as I turned the pages, I kept wondering when Natalia was going to settle down and actually investigate the murder of the two men. Never fear, Natalia does put all the facts and clues together-- and she reveals some very nasty thorns hidden amongst the petals that make up the beautiful city of Naples. This series is turning into something very special, and I look forward to the next installment.
December 25, 2016
An opulent setting in Naples, Italy, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a well-drawn whodunit boasts Jan Merete Weiss’s second compelling new mystery, “A Few Drops of Blood.”
The bodies of two gay men — a gossip columnist and a museum curator — are found brutally murdered, gunned to death, their bodies posed naked on the back of a metal horse sculpture in the lush garden of Palazzo Caracciolo.
Captain Natalia Monte of Carabiniere, infuriated by what she sees, begins to investigate this violently executed and nightmarish crime, which takes her into the dark underbelly of a decadent city stifled with cultural corruption and an illegal black market.
Trying to solve the murders of these two men, Monte’s investigation prompts her to interview a long list of suspects with motives as tall as the Eiffel tower.
Why would someone want to kill these two men? Working tirelessly to help find the victims’ killer, Monte talks with the victims’ friends and co-workers. As days turn to weeks, Monte discovers a few surprises about the victims’ pasts that navigate the case in a different direction, placing Monte’s own life in great danger.
A welcome reprieve from the usual police procedural, Weiss writes compassionate prose. “A Few Drops of Blood” is steeped in beauty, a city drenched in culture and history, enriched with resilient, authoritative characters and atmosphere.
The bodies of two gay men — a gossip columnist and a museum curator — are found brutally murdered, gunned to death, their bodies posed naked on the back of a metal horse sculpture in the lush garden of Palazzo Caracciolo.
Captain Natalia Monte of Carabiniere, infuriated by what she sees, begins to investigate this violently executed and nightmarish crime, which takes her into the dark underbelly of a decadent city stifled with cultural corruption and an illegal black market.
Trying to solve the murders of these two men, Monte’s investigation prompts her to interview a long list of suspects with motives as tall as the Eiffel tower.
Why would someone want to kill these two men? Working tirelessly to help find the victims’ killer, Monte talks with the victims’ friends and co-workers. As days turn to weeks, Monte discovers a few surprises about the victims’ pasts that navigate the case in a different direction, placing Monte’s own life in great danger.
A welcome reprieve from the usual police procedural, Weiss writes compassionate prose. “A Few Drops of Blood” is steeped in beauty, a city drenched in culture and history, enriched with resilient, authoritative characters and atmosphere.
May 16, 2014
The carefully staged crime scene with two naked dead men atop the statue of a horse in the garden of an elderly countess is a pretty dramatic beginning to a very good procedural. Caribiniere Captain Natalia Monte and her new assistant Angelina Cavatelli are put in charge of the investigation - in spite of a somewhat misogynistic department, their commander is supportive.
The whole Naples setting is wonderful - the physical descriptions of the city, the treacherous tentacles of the Camorra which reach into every facet of daily life, the persistence of old feuds.
The character of Natalia is very well done, a bright, ambitious university graduate who started in art history, migrated to art crime and is now solidly committed to criminal investigation. She has to walk a fine line because three of her oldest female friends are members of Camorra families - they respect each other's need for discretion, but the possibility of a career catastrophe is always in the background. She and Angelina are excellent foils for each other, both eager, honest, driven. The only reason I gave this three stars instead of four is the whole subplot with Natalia's Yoga boy, zen doofus boyfriend. She should never have let him back in the door no matter how good the sex was.
The whole Naples setting is wonderful - the physical descriptions of the city, the treacherous tentacles of the Camorra which reach into every facet of daily life, the persistence of old feuds.
The character of Natalia is very well done, a bright, ambitious university graduate who started in art history, migrated to art crime and is now solidly committed to criminal investigation. She has to walk a fine line because three of her oldest female friends are members of Camorra families - they respect each other's need for discretion, but the possibility of a career catastrophe is always in the background. She and Angelina are excellent foils for each other, both eager, honest, driven. The only reason I gave this three stars instead of four is the whole subplot with Natalia's Yoga boy, zen doofus boyfriend. She should never have let him back in the door no matter how good the sex was.
May 29, 2014
Written without a cliche in sight, the whole is a terrific example of the medium-boiled mystery. An unusual Gordian knot of a city for a Carabiniere, contemporary Naples is the setting for this new-to-me series featuring female Carabiniere (not Carabiniera?) Captain Natalia Monte. A daughter of the city, she grew up with the people she is now sworn to fight - the Camorra families. What makes the book interesting, in addition to a truly twisty, multi-level murder case, is that the operative characters are all female - Monte, her new partner, her old girl friends who are now rising powers in the once male bastion of Southern Italian crime families. Yet it's not a 'woman's mystery'.
The richly ancient and discordant tapestry of the city is energetically depicted, and brings out the underlying tensions of the action. Characters are interesting and varied, motivations are intriguingly misinterpreted. And the question grows louder as the book advances - how will Captain Monte deal with this knotted network of profoundly conflicting relationships that has her life and her adored city so enmeshed?
The richly ancient and discordant tapestry of the city is energetically depicted, and brings out the underlying tensions of the action. Characters are interesting and varied, motivations are intriguingly misinterpreted. And the question grows louder as the book advances - how will Captain Monte deal with this knotted network of profoundly conflicting relationships that has her life and her adored city so enmeshed?
February 9, 2017
I loved the first book in this series. Napoli is the home of my heart, and was thrilled that an author would choose to write a mystery series set in this city. If you're going to write about a city and culture, there are things you should know. A native Napoletano could not be born and bred 'Ndragheta. That is the Calabrian criminal organisation. Napoletani are Camorra. Naples' football team would NEVER play a friendly in Rome. Especially against a country's team. If Ms. Weiss chooses to write a 3rd book, I hope she'll employ better fact checkers
April 28, 2014
This is a carefully crafted if also quite complicated mystery, one that can be very hard to follow along at times. Set in contemporary Naples, the cast of characters is large and diverse, and there is a sense that even when all is said and done, and the case is officially closed, neither is really true. And maybe that's the way it should be. Read our full review, here: http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/myst...
Want to read
December 19, 2013Really enjoyed These Dark Things, first in the series featuring Captain Natalia Monte of the Carabiniere in Naples. Looking forward to this one...
June 26, 2014
Good plot, complex characters, and well written.
March 19, 2015
Wasn't the best book I read but the storyline was interesting. Didn't like the way it was written. Felt like it was translated from italian to english. Too many flourishes.
April 22, 2015
Very good read--fast paced, great characters, compelling style. I could not put this book down. I particularly loved the sights, sounds and smells of Naples.
April 23, 2023
oh good. A new (small series). I LIKE this and of course, so interesting in the 'inside' information of Naples...Good enough to add some more (including starting with #1!)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews