I loved this book!
No spoilers. A lot of rambling:
Ostensibly, it's another Italian giallo (there is a murder after all, and an investigation), but it's so much more than a run-of-the-mill detective or crime story.
The protagonist is is a middle-aged woman, Immacolata Tataranni ("Imma") and she's not a Carabinieri or a police officer, she's a "Sostituto" which is a deputy prosecutor.
More importantly, she's a realistic and intriguing personality. She's a bit short (always wears high heels which isn't really practical when she goes out in the field to investigate, especially in rural areas), lacks social graces at times (meals), dresses in a manner that's not exactly elegant or classy (ugly outfits her mother made for her years ago that don't really fit too well anymore), and her in-laws don't really care for her. (They seem to still be somewhat taken aback by her behavior and how she dresses.)
At one point, another character mentally describes her as a "cesso" which is tough to translate. I think of it as sort of a "hot mess," but without the "hot." Or perhaps "fugly" might be a less generous synonym. Another time, her hair is described as varying from week to week, from kind of a burgundy red to a flame red, or even worse, to a carrot red, with dark roots always lurking beneath. (More of a paraphrase than a translation.)
She seems, if not oblivious to others' perception of her, then at least unaffected by it. She doesn't really care too much, basically. She's in her own little mental world, and heavily invested in her work.
She's not the best wife in the world, but her husband seems to be used to her. (The book doesn't delve very deeply into his character, but he seems to be a meek, quiet, decent, long-suffering sort of guy.)
She feels like she's a bad parent because her teenage daughter is... well, a typical teen. Moody, sulky, manipulative, etc.
Her own mother is sadly now suffering dementia and requires a live-in caregiver.
But at work, Imma is all in. She's determined, stubborn, and believes in justice. (She regularly spies on another woman who works for the government and catches her shirking work by having someone else punch her time card while she's out shopping!) I don't think it's explicitly stated, but Imma seems to have an almost photographic memory for certain details (witness statements, crime reports, etc). And she has a strong, silent (and hunky) younger male carabiniere driver/assistant/partner when she goes out to interview witnesses, investigate crime scenes, etc.
I love the writing. Ms. Venezia is not only a gifted storyteller, but she's a skilled writer when it comes to crafting sentences, paragraphs, scenes, chapters. She has an ear for dialogue, both spoken and inner. The book delivers a perfect balance of description and action and dialogue. Never too much, never too little.
There are a total of 36 mostly short chapters (I love lots of short chapters) which helps keep things flowing and certainly kept me engaged. (My only suggestion to the reader would be to write down names when you first encounter them and add a note, because there are really a ton of bit characters, but some come back down the road, and a few well-placed notes come in handy to help you keep track of who's who.)
One element I liked is the abundance of irony and a sort of dry humor. Basically, the whole book was fun to read. (I would say it's a "delight" to read, but I don't talk like that.) The novel also tosses in a lot of general, sometimes random insights and bits of philosophy. (One example: "It was like youth, because you only realize what it is when it's gone." (My personal translation.) A school reunion that Imma attends is also interesting as it brings up how time flies, how people change (and how they don't). Another key topic was parents and children.
The book is set in Basilicata (southern Italy) and that opens the door to a lot more cultural insights. I'm wildly oversimplifying, but: Historically a poor rural/agricultural region (and still probably one of the poorer regions of the country), we get a bit of historical perspective in different ways (we "see" the conditions that Imma's mother lived in, for example) along with an intriguing look at the region today (or at least in the early 2000s when the book was written). There's a sense of sad (perhaps almost bitter) resignation among certain individuals, a sense that government (at least in some measure) is corrupt, has always been corrupt, and will always be corrupt. Imma runs up against that too (when she's pulled off a case, for example), and although it's something that's bigger than any one person, she is the sort of person who at least tries to do the right thing, and so I see her as a hopeful character.
Other "important" themes touched on include: immigration (the "Russian"—actually Ukrainian—second wife, the caretakers/home health aides, the other young man from outside the EU), corruption (companies disposing of hazardous waste in illegal ways), organized crime, nuclear waste, sexism, the changing times, the pursuit of money, etc.
All I'll say about the ending is that I liked it.
Honestly, I can't really come up with anything negative to say. I truly enjoyed this book and feel like I learned a few new Italian (and/or regional) words and expressions and became a little better acquainted with a part of the country that I mostly only knew about from reading "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli" (a book which is name-checked, incidentally, in this novel).
Consigliatissimo questo romanzo!