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Michele Ferrara #5
The Black Rose Of Florence
A strikingly beautiful young woman is found dead in her Florence apartment.
She lies on her bed, naked,a black rose between her legs.And the murders do not stop there: shortly afterwards, a woman is burned to death in a church, and a man is shot on the Ponte Vecchio.
Chief superintendent Michele Ferrara has to face the most dangerous investigation in his entire career - against a powerful enemy who manages to control events at every turn
She lies on her bed, naked,a black rose between her legs.And the murders do not stop there: shortly afterwards, a woman is burned to death in a church, and a man is shot on the Ponte Vecchio.
Chief superintendent Michele Ferrara has to face the most dangerous investigation in his entire career - against a powerful enemy who manages to control events at every turn
450 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
22 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Michele Giuttari
28 books84 followersMichele Giuttari is former head of the Florence Police Force (1995-2003), where he was responsible for re-opening the Monster of Florence case and jailing several key Mafia figures. He is now a special advisor to the interior minister in Rome, with a remit to monitor Mafia activity.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
April 2, 2022
This book is somewhat chaotic and as a first one to read in this series this instalment was not the wisest choice. Some stuff has taken place before this book and the bad guys keep referring to actions outside of this volume and they want to get rid of the leading character Chief superintendent Michele Ferrara which based upon his skills in this volume makes little sense.
As for the chaotic this book has a lot of chapters namely 128 and way too much characters that play a part in the story, the bad guys are not directly involved and the one doing the bad deeds for them we find out about some of his motives but the motives of his masters really does not get solved. Which makes for unsatisfactory reading when you get to the end.
This writer is apparently a very popular writer in Italy based upon this book I fail to say why. I was curious about this series so bought 3 of the books and will undoubtedly get to the other two in due time.
I still prefer a bad Montalbano book over this particular book, but I still managed to get to the final pages so it is not a 2 star review. But if you want to read this series this is certainly not the one to start. But still somewhere in the book is a decent story perhaps for the Italian readers there is much more enjoy. For me the Italian justice system feels like mighty chaotic and can easily tie the police down in the clutches of the magistrates who seem to be the true police and yet lack any policing skills but yet decide what the police can do or can't. Seems a system that is ripe for corruption and manipulated for the powerful.
As for the chaotic this book has a lot of chapters namely 128 and way too much characters that play a part in the story, the bad guys are not directly involved and the one doing the bad deeds for them we find out about some of his motives but the motives of his masters really does not get solved. Which makes for unsatisfactory reading when you get to the end.
This writer is apparently a very popular writer in Italy based upon this book I fail to say why. I was curious about this series so bought 3 of the books and will undoubtedly get to the other two in due time.
I still prefer a bad Montalbano book over this particular book, but I still managed to get to the final pages so it is not a 2 star review. But if you want to read this series this is certainly not the one to start. But still somewhere in the book is a decent story perhaps for the Italian readers there is much more enjoy. For me the Italian justice system feels like mighty chaotic and can easily tie the police down in the clutches of the magistrates who seem to be the true police and yet lack any policing skills but yet decide what the police can do or can't. Seems a system that is ripe for corruption and manipulated for the powerful.
November 1, 2020
For most people, Florence is a city of great art where everything is peaceful. For Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara of the Italian State Police, there is an undercurrent of crime that tourists do not see. This story begins with a desecrated corpse with a scar carved into its forehead and burnt tobacco leaves at its feet. It continues with Ferrara's reception of an anonymous threatening letter which makes allusions to hooded men. In somewhat rapid succession, a woman is murdered and laid out on her bed naked with an artificial black rose between her legs; another woman is burned to death in what seems to b a satanic ritual, and a woman who was helping the police with understanding the occult aspects of the crimes is also murdered. Finally, a wealthy and influential couple is murdered, the husband being mutilated. Both the State Police and the Carabinieri are cooperating to solve the murders in what seems to be a rare occurrence of working together. The crimes will be solved but the murderer is killed himself before he can be apprehended.
Michele Giuttari certainly knows the details of police investigations as he was the head of the police force in Florence before becoming a writer. Unfortunately, I think that book suffers from too many characters. We have the police, the Carabinieri, the criminals, the Freemasons, and assorted others. It became difficult for me to keep them all separate. The difference in the jurisdiction of the police and Carabinieri is not very clear. Why does the Carabinieri investigate the black rose murder while the police investigate the others? Americans can understand different police forces supplementing each other, like state police assisting local police, or the FBI assisting in a federal crime, but what seems to happen here is a complete separation of powers (it's not only in this book either; I've seen it in the works of other authors).
You might need a scorecard to keep track of the various characters here, but persevere; the story is worth the effort.
Michele Giuttari certainly knows the details of police investigations as he was the head of the police force in Florence before becoming a writer. Unfortunately, I think that book suffers from too many characters. We have the police, the Carabinieri, the criminals, the Freemasons, and assorted others. It became difficult for me to keep them all separate. The difference in the jurisdiction of the police and Carabinieri is not very clear. Why does the Carabinieri investigate the black rose murder while the police investigate the others? Americans can understand different police forces supplementing each other, like state police assisting local police, or the FBI assisting in a federal crime, but what seems to happen here is a complete separation of powers (it's not only in this book either; I've seen it in the works of other authors).
You might need a scorecard to keep track of the various characters here, but persevere; the story is worth the effort.
October 23, 2014
This is a complex and complicated thriller based on the Squadra Mobile in Florence. Chief Superintendent Ferrara is back heading up the murder / flying squad. This is a detailed police procedural which seemingly has to involve the various arms of police enforcement across the city.
A number of crimes happen in a chronological timeframe which appear to baffle and deliberately mislead the investigation. Rich political interests; internal corruption; drugs and prostitution; illegal workers; witchcraft and black magic; masonic orders and secret societies all get a run out which makes the readers's framing of the plot difficult. This is not helped by the intrigue and mystery that is created by the author to enhance the story but leaves incidents without names and immediate references.
However, the novel does hold together and leads to an exciting conclusion. I liked the implied threat and conspiracy elements that are similiar to some American thrillers.
Above all despite being translated into english it is a very good read and Howard Curtis should be credited for his work in bringing the italian original across into a real page turner by its tense conclusion.
A number of crimes happen in a chronological timeframe which appear to baffle and deliberately mislead the investigation. Rich political interests; internal corruption; drugs and prostitution; illegal workers; witchcraft and black magic; masonic orders and secret societies all get a run out which makes the readers's framing of the plot difficult. This is not helped by the intrigue and mystery that is created by the author to enhance the story but leaves incidents without names and immediate references.
However, the novel does hold together and leads to an exciting conclusion. I liked the implied threat and conspiracy elements that are similiar to some American thrillers.
Above all despite being translated into english it is a very good read and Howard Curtis should be credited for his work in bringing the italian original across into a real page turner by its tense conclusion.
January 22, 2014
Maybe it wasn't a great translation? I picked up this crime novel as we were headed to Florence and thought it would be cool to get a feel for the city. But the writing wasn't that great and it wasn't the page turner that I was hoping for.
July 27, 2013
A rather dull read. I found the the writing too forced (can't say how much of that is down to a bad translation) and the mystery just wasn't that interesting.
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July 13, 2012It seems like with Giuttari it's hit or miss, and this one is a miss. It's really like 2.5 stars, owing to the good police work scenes in the novel. Otherwise, I wouldn't have classified it under "crime fiction," but rather "sensational thriller."
Strange things are happening in Florence, the first of which is that someone has taken a knife to the face of a dead woman awaiting her funeral. When the police get involved, they discover tobacco leaves under the body -- which Michele Ferrara interprets as a message aimed at himself. After all, he did just return from Rome after being on temporary assignment in the Anti-Mafia Investigation Department, a measure intended to get him out of Florence after just barely missing being killed in a bombing attack. Now he's back, and Florence, "seemed to be doing everything it could to put him off staying." His wife, Petra, has long been trying to convince her husband that it may be time to retire; he isn't quite ready. After the strange incident with the dead body, Ferrara begins to wonder if it could possibly be the work of satanists who hold their black masses in "deconsecrated churches." While trying to puzzle out this mess, and a shooting in the Via di Novoli, the body of young Giovanna Innocenti, 24, is discovered in her home -- naked, bound to her bed with handcuffs, with an artificial black rose between her legs. Ferrara, who declares that "this was all very unusual," now has his work cut out for him. The girl's family seems very indifferent toward her death and all but refuse to cooperate with police; in the meantime, the police department is under a great deal of pressure when the press gets hold of the story. Anonymous notes speaking of "the hooded ones" sent to Ferrara seem to hint at some sort of secret society behind the weirdness -- but is it really a group of Satanic worshippers, or perhaps Freemasons, or are there others he doesn't even know about? When others start to die, Ferrara knows there's no time to lose.
The Black Rose of Florence is a police procedural, and as far as the work the cops put in to solve these strange crimes, it's pretty good -- Giutarri's background and knowledge shine through here. But far from being the "masterpiece of detective fiction" as noted on the blurb, it's filled with Giuttari's standard clichéd elements I've discovered in pretty much all of his novels: the higher-ups who run things yet remain clueless about exactly what police work entails, the lack of cooperation between the various law-enforcement agencies in Italy, corruption at the highest levels, conspiracies, and the true powers behind the powers who pull all the strings in the country. I have to say that I wondered when Giuttari's fascination with Satanists (à la the real-life Monster of Florence case) was going to appear in novelized form, and here it is. But then again, he has flirted with the secret society aspects in some of his other books -- here it's just become a bit more blatant, detracting from the good scenes where the policemen are doing their jobs. I don't understand why, with his experience as a cop, he feels he has to sensationalize these crimes and make them larger than life when he could have played it absolutely straight and done a better job.
Maybe it's just me, because so many other readers enjoyed this book, but I thought it was more like something in the sensational thriller range (the ones I tend to skip over) rather than a "masterpiece of detective fiction." On the other hand, waiting to see how it all was going to play out kept me reading, so that's a good thing. I will probably read the next one when it's translated and published, but let's just say that there are better Italian crime-fiction novelists out there.
Strange things are happening in Florence, the first of which is that someone has taken a knife to the face of a dead woman awaiting her funeral. When the police get involved, they discover tobacco leaves under the body -- which Michele Ferrara interprets as a message aimed at himself. After all, he did just return from Rome after being on temporary assignment in the Anti-Mafia Investigation Department, a measure intended to get him out of Florence after just barely missing being killed in a bombing attack. Now he's back, and Florence, "seemed to be doing everything it could to put him off staying." His wife, Petra, has long been trying to convince her husband that it may be time to retire; he isn't quite ready. After the strange incident with the dead body, Ferrara begins to wonder if it could possibly be the work of satanists who hold their black masses in "deconsecrated churches." While trying to puzzle out this mess, and a shooting in the Via di Novoli, the body of young Giovanna Innocenti, 24, is discovered in her home -- naked, bound to her bed with handcuffs, with an artificial black rose between her legs. Ferrara, who declares that "this was all very unusual," now has his work cut out for him. The girl's family seems very indifferent toward her death and all but refuse to cooperate with police; in the meantime, the police department is under a great deal of pressure when the press gets hold of the story. Anonymous notes speaking of "the hooded ones" sent to Ferrara seem to hint at some sort of secret society behind the weirdness -- but is it really a group of Satanic worshippers, or perhaps Freemasons, or are there others he doesn't even know about? When others start to die, Ferrara knows there's no time to lose.
The Black Rose of Florence is a police procedural, and as far as the work the cops put in to solve these strange crimes, it's pretty good -- Giutarri's background and knowledge shine through here. But far from being the "masterpiece of detective fiction" as noted on the blurb, it's filled with Giuttari's standard clichéd elements I've discovered in pretty much all of his novels: the higher-ups who run things yet remain clueless about exactly what police work entails, the lack of cooperation between the various law-enforcement agencies in Italy, corruption at the highest levels, conspiracies, and the true powers behind the powers who pull all the strings in the country. I have to say that I wondered when Giuttari's fascination with Satanists (à la the real-life Monster of Florence case) was going to appear in novelized form, and here it is. But then again, he has flirted with the secret society aspects in some of his other books -- here it's just become a bit more blatant, detracting from the good scenes where the policemen are doing their jobs. I don't understand why, with his experience as a cop, he feels he has to sensationalize these crimes and make them larger than life when he could have played it absolutely straight and done a better job.
Maybe it's just me, because so many other readers enjoyed this book, but I thought it was more like something in the sensational thriller range (the ones I tend to skip over) rather than a "masterpiece of detective fiction." On the other hand, waiting to see how it all was going to play out kept me reading, so that's a good thing. I will probably read the next one when it's translated and published, but let's just say that there are better Italian crime-fiction novelists out there.
January 4, 2015
3.25 stars. I've really enjoyed several of Giuttari's books. This one, while it has an interesting conspiracy at its heart, was a bit of a letdown. Part of this may be me--I personally find the whole idea of Satan worshippers, especially ones in high places in government and business, a bit silly. No doubt there are some misguided souls who'd actually do such a thing, but I highly doubt that they're people at the top of their fields. I realize this idea may not bother some folks, so I'm quite willing to chalk this up to my personal taste. I just would have found the whole thing more plausible if the satanic element had been left out.
Even setting aside my disbelief in the premise, I felt further let down by the climax of the book. (Mild spoilers follow, so I'll mark them as such.) Because these two things weren't resolved, the ending of the book felt unfinished and unsatisfying to me as result.
On the plus side, the murders themselves are interesting, and so is the conspiracy. I also enjoyed the personal scenes between Ferrara and Petra and the scenes with Teresa, the new police officer, and I wish these had made up more of the book.
I'll be reading Giuttari's next book though. The procedural details of the investigations are interesting, and I always enjoy the setting and the characters.
Even setting aside my disbelief in the premise, I felt further let down by the climax of the book. (Mild spoilers follow, so I'll mark them as such.) Because these two things weren't resolved, the ending of the book felt unfinished and unsatisfying to me as result.
On the plus side, the murders themselves are interesting, and so is the conspiracy. I also enjoyed the personal scenes between Ferrara and Petra and the scenes with Teresa, the new police officer, and I wish these had made up more of the book.
I'll be reading Giuttari's next book though. The procedural details of the investigations are interesting, and I always enjoy the setting and the characters.
April 27, 2022
I may be missing something with this author but, once again, I failed to really enjoy his writing.
It centres around over complicated plot, with many elements that just didn't make sense. The author tries to create suspense and tension with several sub-plots that add no value whatsoever, and the effort would have been better spent in fleshing out the original plot.
A standard trait that I'm finding in Giuttari's writing is that he likes to throw a lot of characters at the reader. This can be confusing, particularly as the characterisation is poor and you feel nothing for any of the characters.
The ending felt rushed with too many loose ends or matters that had he spend a lot of effort building up, only to be over simplified and resolved as a throw away.
While this book is better than the fourth in the series, it is certainly not great.
It centres around over complicated plot, with many elements that just didn't make sense. The author tries to create suspense and tension with several sub-plots that add no value whatsoever, and the effort would have been better spent in fleshing out the original plot.
A standard trait that I'm finding in Giuttari's writing is that he likes to throw a lot of characters at the reader. This can be confusing, particularly as the characterisation is poor and you feel nothing for any of the characters.
The ending felt rushed with too many loose ends or matters that had he spend a lot of effort building up, only to be over simplified and resolved as a throw away.
While this book is better than the fourth in the series, it is certainly not great.
June 5, 2013
I have to admit I was very disappointed with this book. The only reason I finished it was because I hate to leave a book unfinished.
The blurb on the back of the book did not seem to (initially) describe the same story I was reading, and the murder only happened a fair way into the book. Also, it seemed to have very little bearing on the rest of the story, which wandered its merry way through Masonic and satanic rituals. The writing style I felt was very abrupt, and the chapters were too short and jerky - as soon as you thought you were going to find out something interesting, the plot yanked you away from that, leaving you floundering for a moment, and trying to catch up.
I won't be reading any more by this author.
The blurb on the back of the book did not seem to (initially) describe the same story I was reading, and the murder only happened a fair way into the book. Also, it seemed to have very little bearing on the rest of the story, which wandered its merry way through Masonic and satanic rituals. The writing style I felt was very abrupt, and the chapters were too short and jerky - as soon as you thought you were going to find out something interesting, the plot yanked you away from that, leaving you floundering for a moment, and trying to catch up.
I won't be reading any more by this author.
February 4, 2014
Well, I struggled through as far as I could but I got to the point where I thought 'I'm not really interested so why am I bothering?'. So I gave up. I don't normally give up on a book but this story didn't engage me at all. As some people have mentioned, perhaps something had got lost in translation. I almost rolled my eyes at the 'satanic' nature of the crimes, seems a bit 'old hat' now. The chapters were very short, which normally would be a good thing but in this case meant a lack of depth to the narrative. I 'cut to the chase' and read the last chapter. I don't think I'll be reading his other books,yawn.
October 2, 2014
Strangely this is a book I abandoned because it irritated me, not because it was unreadable (as in "so badly written I wanted to eat my head" or "using a language that made it undecipherable") but because it was so episodic. I was on page 36 and I'd read eleven chapters! Eleven! There are over 140 chapters in the book and only 400 pages! It had so much potential to be an average read... what a shame.
July 16, 2015
I found this to be an easy read, but not especially well written. The story could have been more interesting - I generally love police procedurals - but the actions of the police were rather reactionary and cliched. The subject matter was a little overused, and the author's skill was not enough to pull this book out of the mediocre.
October 18, 2014
Terrible, terrible book. Readers of the English edition: It's not the translation, it's simply terrible. Proof of terribleness:
Una telefonata breve.
Criptica.
Come sempre.
Also:
"666? Crocifisso capovolto? Pentacolo? Che significato hanno?"
Una telefonata breve.
Criptica.
Come sempre.
Also:
"666? Crocifisso capovolto? Pentacolo? Che significato hanno?"
January 22, 2018
Anyone who looks at my Goodreads reading will surely have worked out by now that I love crime fiction, and in particular Italian crime fiction – Zen, Montalbano, the recently-discovered Soneri, the incomparable Brunetti and, in this case, Commisario Ferrara from Florence.
Ferrara has enemies. The scourge of the mafia in the past, there are those in high places who want to get rid of him. In this case, Ferrara has an occult group and a series of bizarre sacrificial murders to solve. At the same time he's receiving anonymous threatening letters while both his superior and his partner want him to leave Florence, albeit for different reasons.
Slowly, as the case unfolds, the reader is led into ever-more byzantine puzzles and it's not until the end that most of the threads are tied up.
One thing I like about Giuttari is that he's been a mafia-hunter in real life. The story and procedures have an authentic feel to them, even if the Ferrara stories could really be set just about anywhere. Ferrara isn't embedded in Florence in the way that Brunetti and Venice are inseparable, and anyone hoping to relive a Florence holiday might be slightly disappointed. But that's not really a criticism, it's just a warning that not all crime thrillers have the same style.
Ferrara has enemies. The scourge of the mafia in the past, there are those in high places who want to get rid of him. In this case, Ferrara has an occult group and a series of bizarre sacrificial murders to solve. At the same time he's receiving anonymous threatening letters while both his superior and his partner want him to leave Florence, albeit for different reasons.
Slowly, as the case unfolds, the reader is led into ever-more byzantine puzzles and it's not until the end that most of the threads are tied up.
One thing I like about Giuttari is that he's been a mafia-hunter in real life. The story and procedures have an authentic feel to them, even if the Ferrara stories could really be set just about anywhere. Ferrara isn't embedded in Florence in the way that Brunetti and Venice are inseparable, and anyone hoping to relive a Florence holiday might be slightly disappointed. But that's not really a criticism, it's just a warning that not all crime thrillers have the same style.
September 20, 2019
I nearly gave up at the end of every , very short 10 chapters. And that was only page 30! Then suddenly it took off and it turned out to be a very competent thriller.
A word about the translation.
At times it did feel I was reading a script for a Dolmio advert!
The translator was in a bit of a fix here because the police ranks are quite different from the English and he just translated the ranks as best he could. There is no literal translation for Carabiniere so he wisely kept that in Italian, so why not leave the other ranks to the original Italian?
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. The one I found amusing was the translation of the rank of Maresciallo to Marshall, probably because it sounded the same.
Sergio Leone would be turning in his grave if they dubbed his MarshallS into a Maresciallo!
A word about the translation.
At times it did feel I was reading a script for a Dolmio advert!
The translator was in a bit of a fix here because the police ranks are quite different from the English and he just translated the ranks as best he could. There is no literal translation for Carabiniere so he wisely kept that in Italian, so why not leave the other ranks to the original Italian?
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. The one I found amusing was the translation of the rank of Maresciallo to Marshall, probably because it sounded the same.
Sergio Leone would be turning in his grave if they dubbed his MarshallS into a Maresciallo!
July 6, 2017
Like Donna Leon's detective, Ferrara has to deal with corrupt superiors, indolent superiors, and political superiors, all of whom have some "skin" in not solving certain crimes. So it is war on two fronts. To what extent this is true in Italy, the US, and elsewhere would be interesting to know. But sort of like the sheriff of the Wild West who is on his own against the bandits, so are these detectives when it comes to bureaucratic support for solving crime.
However, this book does not detail the end of the Black Rose group, but shows how many tentacles it has in Italy and abroad. Ferrara is about 13 months out from mandatory retirement, unless he is promoted--and would he take the promotion even if he is offered it? (Unlikely to be offered, however.)
However, this book does not detail the end of the Black Rose group, but shows how many tentacles it has in Italy and abroad. Ferrara is about 13 months out from mandatory retirement, unless he is promoted--and would he take the promotion even if he is offered it? (Unlikely to be offered, however.)
January 7, 2019
I LOVE THESE BOOKS
Michele Giuttari is a master crime story teller. He has the knack of keeping the tension high from beginning to end of his wonderfully descriptive tales of the dark side of Florence.
His character definitions and scene descriptions are near photographic. With a map of Florence, you can follow the story line as it progresses.
This is an excellent police procedural so (as usual for me) I'm not going to slavishly detail the plot except to say that it is well developed and, for most parts, easy to believe.
For some unknown reason (I'm getting older?) I skipped books 3 and 4 in the series so my next read in this series will be The Death of a Mafia Don; I can't wait!
Regards,
Peter
Michele Giuttari is a master crime story teller. He has the knack of keeping the tension high from beginning to end of his wonderfully descriptive tales of the dark side of Florence.
His character definitions and scene descriptions are near photographic. With a map of Florence, you can follow the story line as it progresses.
This is an excellent police procedural so (as usual for me) I'm not going to slavishly detail the plot except to say that it is well developed and, for most parts, easy to believe.
For some unknown reason (I'm getting older?) I skipped books 3 and 4 in the series so my next read in this series will be The Death of a Mafia Don; I can't wait!
Regards,
Peter
November 18, 2025
I was very enthousiastic about starting this book, but it was ultimately disappointing. I struggled to keep reading. The story has potential, how could it not with Giuttari’s career and experience? The writing style however annoyed me, which could be due to the translation from Italian to English, but I’m not sure. There was no elegance in the transfer of information to the reader (there where more subtle ways to make clear to the reader there was a mole) and dialogue didn’t feel natural. It is also a very chaotic book which made it difficult at times to understand what was going on or why. I did finish the book, but wouldn’t recommend it to others based on the sheer irritation I felt while reading.
July 24, 2017
The 5th book in the Ferrara series is quite a departure from the first two. (My local library doesn't have 3 or 4.)
First, the chapters in this novel are much shorter than in 1 and 2. Classic crime novel fast driving chapters.
Second, this novel addresses upper middle class sub-Masonic - Satanic worship groups.
The clash of Chief Superintendent with his superiors continues.
Well done. Suspenseful ending, revealing a mole in the seeming tight-knit department, demands a follow-up.
First, the chapters in this novel are much shorter than in 1 and 2. Classic crime novel fast driving chapters.
Second, this novel addresses upper middle class sub-Masonic - Satanic worship groups.
The clash of Chief Superintendent with his superiors continues.
Well done. Suspenseful ending, revealing a mole in the seeming tight-knit department, demands a follow-up.
February 10, 2019
A reasonable enough read. Plenty of characters introduced, and that perhaps detracted from the story as some did not seem relevant either to the main thread or as diversionary. What it did skim over was the complexity within the Italian legal system between the different forces. perhaps some notes on each, their responsibilities and how they fit together would be useful? Well translated, and good to have the opportunity to read books , not written in English originally. More of it please.
April 25, 2022
Trama nera ben costruita con forse un paio di digressioni che portano confusione. Solita grande cura Nei particolari procedurali ma poca empatia per i personaggi (anche Ferrara ne esce ridimensionato, come sviluppo). È evidente il desiderio di creare un bell’impianto, che funziona alla grande (anche se ci sono un paio di banalità: una sono i metallari satanisti che sono un po’ “buttati dentro”). In generale una buona lettura da spiaggia.
May 9, 2018
Satanic murders being committed around Florence. Pressure is put on the police and politicians to solve it by the papers and the public, but by the rich not to investigate them. Ferraro and wife are threatened. Satanic society made up of very powerful men put pressure to get rid of Ferraro. Before he is able to be transferred to Germany, he solves the mystery of the killer (in Germany), but is given a clue about the Black Rose society.
Satisfying conclusion to this story with hint of why we should keep reading the series.
Satisfying conclusion to this story with hint of why we should keep reading the series.
June 9, 2025
I believe I would have benefited from reading a previous book in the series. There are many characters with whom the reader would probably already be acquainted from previous books with this detective. I found the storyline to be quite convoluted and, just as I was keeping them straight, the book ended, with a bit of a cliffhanger. I most likely won't read any more from this Author.
February 5, 2022
A flurry of murders. A detective trying to find the murderer/s. Occult. Secret societies with members in high places. Didn't really engage with this one but made it to the end. Just not my type of book I think.
January 13, 2025
Didn��t enjoy this book. Granted it’s not a genre I would typically enjoy anyways. I had to forced myself to finish it. Lots of characters and lots of changing perspectives in each chapter, sometimes hard to follow and keep track.
April 12, 2018
bought in Florence train station
May 24, 2018
An ok holiday read - a short story told long.
June 29, 2018
Nulla. Non c’è lho fatta.
May 13, 2019
A bit gruesome. Looking forward to the next one to see what happens to the mole
August 8, 2019
A bit too bloodthirsty for me! I do find that male thriller writers tend to write more blood and guts than female writers. I thought the end of the book was rather hurried.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews