Death in Florence

Commissario Bordelli #5

by Marco Vichi, Stephen Sartarelli (Translator)

Florence, October 1966. The rain is never-ending. When a young boy vanishes on his way home from school the police fear the worst, and Inspector Bordelli begins an increasingly desperate investigation.

Then the flood hits. During the night of 4th November the swollen River Arno, already lapping the arches of the Ponte Vecchio, breaks its banks and overwhelms the city. Streets become rushing torrents, the force of the water sweeping away cars and trees, doors, shutters and anything else in its wake.

In the aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy the mystery of the child's disappearance seems destined to go unsolved. But obstinate as ever, Bordelli is not prepared to give up.

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

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2009

About the author

Marco Vichi was born in Florence. The author of eleven novels and two collections of short stories, he has also edited crime anthologies, written screenplays, music lyrics and for radio, and collaborated on and directed various projects for humanitarian causes. His novel Death in Florence won the Scerbanenco, Rieti and Camaiore prizes in Italy. Marco Vichi lives in the Chianti region of Tuscany.

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a good story but it’s not the police procedural/mystery it claims to be. It’s really the story of an ageing (four years from retirement), lonely police detective wandering through Florence and reflecting on his experience as an anti-Mussolini, anti-Nazi resistance fighter in World War II. It’s set in Italy in 1966 against the backdrop of the devastating Florence floods.



Yes, there’s a crime to be solved. A group of pedophiles has kidnapped and killed a young boy. The detective finds a possible clue has his officers tail suspects for weeks while they report daily “nothing unusual.” For more than a hundred pages, nothing, nothing, nothing in the way of resolution of the crime.

Yet the story works because of good writing and the author’s ability to get us interested in the main character. He reminisces on his war past as a sniper - 27 notches in his gun. He visits old friends and chats up strangers in cafes. He’s putting on too much weight; he drinks too much; he smokes too much. He reflects on Italy’s past and present (1960’s) political morass, especially the cult of men who still worship Mussolini.

The detective is not married, so mostly he chases women. His mid-life crisis takes a particular form: can I still get a YOUNG woman? The answer is yes but there’s a tragic twist to the story connected to the resolution of the crime.

The detective is surrounded by colorful characters. There’s an ex-con who takes him mushroom-hunting in the woods; an ex-prostitute who gives him massages (and only massages); his male assistant at work who battles with him daily over his smoking.



The daily lives of the people digging out from the mud and other devastation of the floods is covered in the detail that you’d expect from a journalist writing a series of human interest stories. There’s local color - real streets and real places in Florence. Some of the action is set on the road from Florence to Siena which is chianti wine country.

One last comment shows how this story is not your usual police procedural ending with the bad guys in handcuffs being taken away in police cars.
Crimes can be solved but not resolved: powerful people can sometimes get away with murder and whether or not “justice has been served” can be an open question.

Top photo from amazingworldcars.blogspot.com
Lower photo of Florence 1966 flood from intoflorence.com

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was a rambling mess. It starts with inspector Bordelli and his sidekick Piras investigating the rape and murder of a young boy. They have no clues and no way forward. Since Bordelli has nothing concrete to go on, he spends evenings with his friend Rosa, the ex-prostitute, and loses sleep thinking about the women who have passed through his life. He complains about the incessant rain. One evening Rosa surprises him by inviting a tarot card reader to her apartment while Bordelli is there. Naturally the tarot card reader tells him that he will soon meet a beautiful woman.

Soon enough, the incessant rain turns into a devastating flood, and the city of Florence is inundated, with up to 10 feet of water in some areas. Much of the middle portion of the novel describes the devastation and its aftermath, and along the way Bordelli meets a beautiful woman, 30 years younger than him, and he falls in love immediately. And she seems interested. Naturally. It was foretold.

Bordelli stumbles upon the barest scrap of a clue and immediately leaps into action by having the possible suspect watched and followed day and night - with no results. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, Bordelli receives a midnight caller, a representative of state security, who asks him to go immediately to the home of a certain individual and give him a nasty scare. Which Bordelli does. And, by a miracle!, that person is soon discovered to have a connection to the original suspect. Mirabile dictu! And from there all the pieces begin to fall into place.

There are a couple plot twists before the end, but the entire investigation rests on highly improbable coincidences and amazing leaps of speculation. That is not a good basis for a proper mystery novel.

Really nothing about this novel held together. The various plots - the murder mystery, the flood, the beautiful young woman, the Rosa connection, the strangely immature Bordelli - were each linked in some way, but the overall effect is one of artistic chaos.

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping Bordelli might be to Florence what Brunetti is to Venice. There are similarities - like Donna Leon's novels, this book is more about the Inspector, his life and his city than about the crime that needs to be solved. The difference is that Bordelli is a bachelor who smokes, drinks and eats too much. He spends his days in a pokey flat, reminiscing about the war and fantasizing about women half his age - so his life is far less interesting than Brunetti's. I found his internal monologues tedious and started skimming them early.

The story picked up when the Arno burst its banks and flooded Florence - it was completely irrelevant to the murder mystery but at least something was happening. Unfortunately during the cleanup operations, Bordelli got involved with a young woman. The idea of a luminously beautiful young woman falling for a paunchy, chain-smoking fifty-year-old was so completely implausible (obviously a wish-fulfilment on the part of the author) that I couldn't take it seriously and started skimming in earnest.

Like the Brunetti novels, the ending was unsatisfactory because Italian justice isn't good at catching criminals. But by that time I hardly cared anyway!

[Antonella Imperiali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toscana 🇮🇹

"Non era più un giovincello, ma non era poi così vecchio. Non era nemmeno un figurino, ma in fondo aveva solo qualche chilo in più. Forse non era proprio bello come Mastroianni, ma il fascino non gli mancava..."

Franco Bordelli, più umano non si può!

Ma è Firenze la primadonna in questo romanzo: una Firenze in ginocchio, una città invasa dalle acque e dal fango a seguito dell'esondazione dell'Arno del 4 novembre 1966. (La scena del manichino tra i gorghi impetuosi che invadono la strada mi ha fatto venire i brividi, per non parlare della descrizione di luoghi e persone e animali e cose... I libri e le opere d'arte... Cuore stretto, piccolo piccolo, per una città che amo. Certe pagine le ho lette con un velo negli occhi.)
Giorni bui, freddi, dolorosi che hanno piegato, ma non spezzato, i fiorentini e gli abitanti della provincia.
All'interno di questo dramma ne serpeggia un altro, altrettanto se non più grave e doloroso: il corpo di un bambino scomparso viene rinvenuto nei boschi intorno a Firenze. Sarà molto dura per Bordelli conciliare le ricerche con il forte disagio che sta vivendo la sua città. Se poi ci si mettono pure l'amore e la speranza di un futuro, e se poi l'amore viene spezzato dalla violenza...
Un triangolo che lascia senza parole, solo tanto amaro il bocca, tanta sofferenza, disperazione e rabbia.
E voglia di giustizia "privata".

Il miglior Vichi, in assoluto, fino ad oggi.
Sarà difficile dimenticarlo...

Note:
Bellissima la copertina (almeno nella mia edizione): Santa Croce come si presentava nel '66... sotto il diluvio e col fango a lambirla...
Interessanti - alla fine del libro - sia l'intervista a Marco Vichi ad opera di Teresa Ciabatti, sia le osservazioni di Luca Scarlini sulla scelta di Firenze quale ambientazione ideale per raccontare il "giallo", il terrore e la morte in questa Città.

🇮🇹 Il giro d'Italia in 20 libri - Toscana

[Rosanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bel regalo: autore nuovo, città nuova, Storia passata ma ad ogni autunno drammaticamente attuale, finale come al solito (per me) deludente.
Marco Vichi ha una bellissima scrittura, devo dire che è un piacere leggerla e il commissario Bordelli è stata una piccola sorpresa.
Firenze è una città solo sfiorata e dunque non ho riconosciuto vie e quartieri che raccontano la distruzione di un 4 novembre eccezionale ma non troppo, visto che ogni anno 'questo' tipo di Storia si ripete, ahinoi.
Si intrecciano le storie alla Storia e molto bene, non fosse per il finale!
Accidenti, ma quanto è difficile far finire un giallo-seminoir in modo che una lettrice come me (gnorranta, eh!) sia contenta?!
E datemelo un 'lieto fine', che in questo caso non può essere di certo il 'suicidio' di un solo assassino, il più sacrificabile del gruppo oltretutto!
A meno che...a meno che Bordelli non abbia in mente una vendetta più 'creativa' per...basta, non vi dico altro, solo leggete, solo bravo all'autore e grazie al mio pusher di narrativa contemporanea che stavolta ha azzeccato prima il regalo natalizio e poi pure quello di compleanno! mica facile no?!

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoiler alert

I love a good mystery, but this wasn't one of them. What I like are the stories about WW2 from the Italian perspective. I like the era, too. What I don't like are the two-dimensional characters. All of the females are basically wall flowers. In this book, there is an unbelievable relationship between the inspector in his mid-fifties and a woman of 25 ( or younger). They fall in love in a couple of days! Feels like a middle-aged man's fantasy, not believable. The author had to throw in a couple of gang rapes, which he ends the book with no justice for. In between, there was a lot of filler. A major disappointment.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish I didn't feel compelled to finish every book I start. The main character in this series is a man in his late 50s who is focused on finding a woman, cutting down on his smoking and retiring. He didn't do much of anything that was interesting. The investigation of the disappearance of a young boy centered on one person rather early in the book and seemed to me to be started on the basis of a very flimsy clue. I won't be reading any more in this series.

[Arybo ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 che tristezza

[Paul Forster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can't believe this won awards, hardly any crime related writing, rambling on about the admittedly interesting and well described flood in Florence, affairs of the heart, his war experience, a ghastly portrayal of gay men, as sad or bad or paedophile, and a horribly graphic description of what happened to the poor child. Not to my taste.

[Laura Leaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having run out of reading material, I purchased this volume in the small English language section of the Morpurgo book shop in Split, right next to Diocletian's Palace in Croatia. Not having much to choose from, I bought it because I once stayed at the ironically named Ritz Hotel, located on the bank of the Arno, near the Ponte Vecchio, the location for novel's murder mystery. And, like all things recognizable, I loved the setting because I'd been there. When Inspector Bordelli makes a date to meet a woman in front of the Basilica of San Miniato, I felt a little frisson of pleasure at the memory of it.

Additionally, I liked Bordelli's gloom. A veteran of WWII (the book is set in 1966), his taciturn nature has the echo of the philosopher. Most of the book stays inside the head of Bordelli, whose memories of the war mix with his thoughts about women, the souls of the Italian Bourgeoisie, his mother's death, as well as the details of the murder of a young boy he is trying to solve.

Still, his character is somewhat ridiculous. Every other page finds him, a 56 year-old man, eating a gigantic meal, drinking grappa or wine, smoking his millionth cigarette. The author places special emphasis on these activities, but nothing comes of it. Bordelli thinks, "There were four years left before retirement. He had no children, no wife. he ate too much, drank too much, smoked too much. He had to change his lifestyle, buy a house in the country, stop smoking, marry a beautiful woman and tend a vegetable garden." Indeed, the book is less about the crime and more about Bordelli's crushing need to find this beautiful woman. His taste runs young, which creeped me out a little because I wanted to like him so much.

The case is finally solved, but in a very anti-climactic style. As in real life, justice is not perfectly served.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Con un ambientazione storico-geografica molto particolare, ricca di allusioni ad un passato appena più lontano e ad un altro che ai tempi dell’azione era ancora futuro, questo giallo di buona fattura offre tanti spunti di riflessione. Per questo riesce però di non facile digestione. Risente della fatica che ci è andata a scriverlo, ne perde un po’ della spontaneità che ci vuole per le letture diciamo facili.
Vichi è bravo e ne rileggerò, apprezzo la sua ambizione, però so già che le piccole carenze che questa grande ambizione fa apparire mi faranno talvolta disperare. Ne mette un po’ troppo. E poi questa tendenza di certi giallisti italiani di inserire sempre le proprie fantasie erotiche o quelle che presumono indispensabili per il lettore. Un commissario cinquantenne sovrappeso che fa innamorare con dei modi burbero-fanciulleschi una giovane e bella ragazza, mentre sta dando la caccia a una banda di fascisti che hanno violentato e ucciso un ragazzino ancora più giovane? Ma perché, Vichi, perché? Non ci voleva per niente.

[Paola Munne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is special for me, specially because i work in downtown Florence and the story takes place very near my work and areas i commonly use during the day.

I love it, Bordelli, Eleonora… the killers and how the case comes through a m a z i n g.

Cant wait to read the others in Italian 🥹

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il a un feet fetish
Et c'est un peu hardcore pour un livre pour les cours
Mais pas si mauvais juste un peu ras le bol des détectives mysogines qui pécho des meufs de 30 ans de moins qu'eux

[Saretta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pensavo di riuscire a finirlo ma ho scelto di smettere di autopunirmi (ho concluso la lettura in modalità avanti veloce).

Prima di passare al romanzo una breve parentesi sulla punteggiatura. Avete presente la fastidiosa goccia del lavandino che cade quando dormi (pic, pic, pic): le prime volte non la senti poi ti entra nel cervello e ti sveglia. Ecco, funzionano allo stesso modo, almeno per me, alcuni segni di punteggiatura: trovo irritante il punto escalamativo quando è messo a raffica, in questo caso invece abbiamo a che fare con i punti di sospensione (presenti a bizzeffe).
A tal proposito citerei Severgnini che può piacere o meno, però sui puntini dice cose sagge:

Chi sono, i Puntinisti? Donne e uomini pigri, che non hanno la costanza e il coraggio di finire un ragionamento. Le loro frasi galleggiano nell'acqua come le ninfee di Monet ("Caro Severgnini...come dirlo? Mio marito Puccio la detesta...Lei ha troppi capelli! Ieri . non ci crederà... ha tirato un suo libro al nostro vicino, lamentandosi che non fosse... un'edizione rilegata..."). Raramente questa overdose di puntini esprime un pensiero compiuto. Accompagna invece mezze ammissioni, spunti, sospetti, accenni, piccole vigliaccherie (non ho il coraggio di dire qualcosa, e alludo)."

Detto questo passiamo al romanzo.
La trama è inconsistente; io ho rinunciato al 53% dell'ebook anche perchè fino a lì sono avvenuti i seguenti fatti:
- scoperta del cadavere
- pedinamento
- alluvione di Firenze
Ebbene sì, nient'altro (inoltre piuttosto che leggere l'evoluzione di un pedinamento è meglio vedere il documentario sui bradipi in TV), tutte quelle pagine (nel mio caso virtuali) sono state riempite di valangate di retorica su guerra, società, usi e costumi italiani del dopoguerra.

Ho sbirciato la fine (e da quel che ho capito ci si arriva non con brillanti deduzioni ma con una banale botta di fortuna) che mi è parsa piena di particolari di cui si poteva fare a meno.

La morale è che tutte queste recensioni positive non le capisco, è uno dei peggiori gialli mai letti - anche perchè di giallo ne ha ben poco - l'unica parte interessante è quella sull'alluvione (toh ho scoperto qualcosa di nuovo).

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's much darker in tone and story line than the four earlier books in the series. It's October 1966 and it has been raining nonstop for weeks in Tuscany. The days leading up to the historic flood which devastated Florence, the flood and its aftermath, permeate the events of what becomes Bordelli's most difficult and painful case.

A young boy has been kidnapped, raped by multiple assailants, strangled and buried in the woods. The only possible clue is the receipt for a phone bill that Bordelli finds near where the boy was buried, and that's a long shot.

The receipt belongs to a butcher who seems to have an unblemished life, but there are no other leads, so Bordelli has his men stake him out. After days of fruitless watching in the ceaseless rain it finally develops that the man still has Fascist leanings and is part of a group that bears further watching. Just as the police find a suspicious apartment that may give them some clues, the Arno overflows its banks and the building and any clues it may contain are destroyed by 10 feet of muddy, oily water. The portrait of the city in the aftermath of the flood is incredible. The scale of the damage, the things people lost, the way they struggled to get their lives back is lined out in vivid detail.

Bordelli is still haunted by his memories of the war and its aftermath. He wishes he could chuck it all in and buy a little place in the country and raise chickens, preferably with a woman to love. But he cannot give up on the case and it leads him to a series of very dark events. It's not a happy story, though there are happy moments. His friends are still a motley crew of wonderful characters, but he is more lonely and sad in this book than in the others. It's an excellent story with unforgettable atmosphere. Sartarelli's translation, once again, is brilliant.

[Nilo Di Stefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non ero convinto fino in fondo di questo libro, ma bisogna arrivare fino in fondo per avere delle certezze. Alla fine non solo sono convinto ma anche contento di aver letto un libro così drammaticamente crudo, un vero pugno nello stomaco. Probabilmente non bello come altri di Vichi, ma scritto in modo tale da non fare mai annoiare il lettore.

[Laini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had always thought the Florence flood would be a great idea for a book, but I just couldn't get interested in this one. I gave it multiple tries, and couldn't get past how creepy the "hero" was.

[Stefania · Rating 4 out of 5]

In questa storia molto cupa e in una Firenze ostile e insidiosa, il commissario Bordelli fa la sua sporca ma bellissima figura.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Περισσότερο "μέρες ενός αστυνομικού" παρά αστυνομικό μυστήριο, νομίζω προτιμώ αυτού του είδους τα αργού ρυθμού μυθιστορήματα από αυτά της σκανδιναβικής σχολής με τα αμέτρητα twists & false endings (και σελίδες!). Ο μεγάλος πρωταγωνιστής είναι η ιστορική πλημμύρα του Άρνο το Νοέμβριο του 1966 που ρήμαξε τη Φλωρεντία, αλλά και οι αναμνήσεις ενός πολέμου που οι Ιταλοί "θέλουν να πιστεύουν πως κέρδισαν, ενώ στην ουσία έχασαν". Βίαιο, σκοτεινό και απαισιόδοξο στο τέλος του αντικατοπτρίζει την ψυχολογία του κεντρικού χαρακτήρα του ρεαλιστικά και άχρονα.

[Antonella Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ottobre 1966 - il commissario Bordelli deve risolvere il brutto omicidio di un ragazzino che ha subito violenze.
In sottofondo una Firenze inondata che cancella anche i pochi indizi.
Bordelli, pesta i piedi a persone molto influenti, viene ferito nel personale e decide di licenziarsi, apparentemente per evitare ulteriori ricatti, in realtà per agire più liberamente. Molto forte

[Marco Bruschi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personaggi -> 7/10
Atmosfera -> 8/10
Scrittura -> 7/10
Intrigo -> 6/10
Logica -> 7/10
Approfondimenti -> 9/10
Trama -> 6/10
Divertimento -> 6/10

Media (approssimata)-> 6,125/10 => 3/5

[Magda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book at a sale as a cancelled library book. I think I know why it was cancelled.

First, if you haven’t been to Florence like me, one thing will drive you nuts within minutes. Yes, Vichi likes his shopping lists to describe a scene, but even more so, loves naming every single street that his characters pass through in Florence. One paragraph can hold more than five street names. All very well if you speak Italian or have been to that particular city otherwise a boring unnecessary inclusion.

Perhaps the worst thing about this book has been mentioned by other reviewers, a shockingly disjointed plot. First the ugly death of a child. Nothing. A flood. Moving on, a ridiculous ramble about sex with a much younger woman, then a hunch on the child’s killer. Next a long detailed gruesome recounting of paedophile crimes. Young woman raped. End of story

And the Flood of Florence came across as an artificial contrivance to carry an older man’s fantasy.

Yes, there’s a late 50s man who eats, drinks, smokes to excess and seems to suffer no effects from any of the above let alone have flatulence, foul breath, obesity, or get pulled over for drink-driving. What a picture of attractiveness especially when it came to the bedroom scenes with the dropdead gorgeous 25-year-old.

Another fantasy author. Masquerading as a mystery writer. I’ll give him the final scenes where the girl turns her back on Bordelli. I did half way through when I started skipping paragraphs.

When I was a younger woman, I can assure Mr Vichi that my friends and I did not look at 60-year-old‘s who didn’t look after themselves and think “ I have to be with this man.” Stunning girls, even moderately pretty ones looked for guys not far from their own age. The girls who did look at grandpas were seen as somewhat peculiar and to be honest they were pitied. Now I’m older, unless it’s ironic, I really don’t want to read about men living in the past.

I can’t believe this book was written in 2009.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth Inspector Bordelli mystery, following on from Death in August, Death and the Olive Grove and Death in Sardinia. Set in 1966, it features both Bordelli and the cast of characters you will be familiar with from earlier books if you have followed the series - Piras, Diotivede, the lovable Rosa and others. Bordelli is now within touching distance of retirement age and the shadow of the war still hangs heavily on him. In fact, the memories of the war are not only Bordelli's, but feature heavily within the book; with supporters of 'Il Duce' as his only suspects in a particularly heinous crime. For a thirteen year old boy has gone missing and, when his body is found, he has been drugged, strangled and abused by several men. As Bordelli worries that this will become an "unsolved case", he feels disatisfied with life generally - he rebels against authority, befriends those on the fringes of crime and society, longs for a woman to share his life and muses on the possibility of a gentler life in the country. As the rain pours relentlessly down, Inspector Bordelli is adamant that he will bring justice to the young boy and his family; while having the premonitions of Rosa's friend in the back of his mind.

Author Marco Vichi was born in Florence in 1957. He is the author of twelve novels and two collections of short stories and "Death in Florence" won the Scerbanenco, Rieti, Camaiore and Azzeccagarbugli prizes in Italy. If you have read the earlier books and enjoyed them, then I can safely say that you will enjoy this. If you haven't read any, it is probably best to begin with the first in the series, "Death in August". These are not fast moving mysteries and the books are as much about Bordelli's life and thoughts as the investigation. However, I certainly hope there are more books in the series for us to enjoy and think the novels have a wonderful sense of place and time.

[Kath B · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a strange read for me - a gruesome murder mystery set in Florence in 1966 at the time of the great flood there. Although I found myself constantly irritated by the lack of action towards finding the killers; the very few clues; the tedious waiting around and the seeming hesitation to make inroads into the case (Inspector Bordelli was hardly in the office or out looking for clues - spending time instead in bars, restaurants and on romantic trysts), I did enjoy the descriptions of Florence and the depictions of Bordelli's friends, particularly Botta, the thief and Rosa, the ex prostitute.

What the book does offer is a slice of life in 1960s Italy and shows the impact of the second world war on the country. It was interesting to learn about the desire, in some parts, for a return to the days of Mussolini and the terrible toll the flood and subsequent mud slide had on the city. However, the constant explanations of which roads Bordelli was driving on became annoying after a while. It was almost as if the author was desperate for the reader to know how well he knew the city.

My biggest disappointments with the book were 1) the ridiculous love affairs of the inspector and the medical examiner with beautiful women 30+ years younger than them. Really!!! Hardly realistic for a 25 year old beauty to be interested in a chain smoking 57 year old cop with a paunch and a small second floor flat, and 2) the ending - very disappointing.

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vichi's Florence is gritty and real, an accurate depiction of life at a turning point in Florence's history. Inspector Bordelli is a man out of time. WWII greatly influenced the men and women of his generation. The young have no way to relate in a country that lost, but desperately pretends that it won.

When a young boy disappears, Bordelli is given the case. Despite pressures from his superiors and the public there is little indication of who took the boy and afterwards left him in a shallow grave, naked and broken. Bordelli steadfastly investigates, despite little evidence and the tragic flood that wreaks havoc on the city. Bordelli seeks justice, despite suspecting that the killers may be powerful and influential men.

Vichi clearly did an immense amount of research in preparation for writing this novel. I was engrossed from beginning to end. Death in Florence is an amazing mystery, a wonderful choice for anyone who enjoy historical fiction in an international setting.

5/5

Death in Florence is available for preorder and will be released October 15, 2015.

I received a copy of Death in Florence from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

--Crittermom

http://muttcafe.com/2015/10/death-in-...

10/5/15

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

For all the hype as an author, I don't think I'll check out another. One quarter of the angst was all I needed and I am not an 'intimate' of Florence so the painfully detailed wandering of the ispettore was ... not too grabbing. I supposed I could have read w/ a map of Firenze near by but I really didn't care that much. HA! Now, if it had been Venice -- I admit-- a different story! The details of the 1966 flooding from the aspect of i genti WAS interesting and in fact, I slowed down my skimming to take in those chapters.

I found it interesting that the same very talented translator who translates all of Andrea Camilieri's books (could that be why we have a blurb frm him ...). The reading is somewhat stilted and since I never find tht so the Comissario Montalbano books (and this including Sicilian dialect!) I can only place it at the feet of the Italian from which it is being taken. Alas.

[Therese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific read. Marco Vichi includes the great flood of Florence in 1966, almost in newsreel style. The river Arno bursts its banks and covers this medieval city in oily black muck. This is a suitably dark back-drop for the murder investigation Inspector Bordelli is desperately trying to solve. A 13-year old boy was raped and buried in the hilly woods above Florence, barely covered by black earth. A chance stroll in the woods by Bordelli leads him to a tiny kitten, its siblings already dead from hunger and exposure. Nearby is a piece of paper which turns out to be the receipt for a telephone bill. Is this a clue? Read the book to find out. In addition to the flood descriptions, there are frequent references to Italy's Fascist past. Bordelli had fought the Germans and is disturbed, but not surprised to see evidence that there is still sympathy for Mussolini and Fascism in the Florence of 1966.

[Mary Warnement · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best in this series. I look forward to the next, Death in the Tuscan Hills, but need some time to pass. Set during the 1966 flood and infused with Dante's inferno & WWII, this mystery is as dark and stormy as the weather of its setting. It got darker and darker but I liked it. Bordelli can't escape his war experiences, even 20 years later. Vichi uses newspaper headlines and tv shows to place us as well as street names and institutions known even to those who have never travelled there. You feel as though you've walked the streets with Bordelli or ridden beside him in his beat up VW. When it starts the day after the flood, and he thinks, damn Germans, I laughed. The sort of humor one goes to during stressful times.

188-9 "Florence thought she was saved by her past..."
234 proverb: he who wants too much gets nothing

[silviagonzheras · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s a book that has made me reconsider my love for reading. The prose is extremely boring, filled with endless details about streets, squares and names of characters irrelevant to the plot. A highly unpleasant story that only gets resolved in the last 70 pages, leaving an open ending at some point. I wish I had never bought this book. I will definitely try to sell it second hand because I don’t want it in my shelf.

[Enrica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forse le pagine più brillanti sono quelle della descrizione dell'alluvione, ed ho già detto tutto... E poi la solita domanda: perché un investigatore deve essere sempre malinconico, triste, afflitto da ogni problema possibile e immaginabile, nonché grande bevitore di alcolici? Questo è pure un incallito fumatore...