What do you think?
Rate this book
Valse Triste
When Michelangelo, a young autistic child, goes missing, Commissario Sergio Striggio is put in charge of the investigation. Searches turn up nothing, but there is an interesting connection with the mother's when she was a child, her twin brother also went missing, never to be found.
However, Striggio is finding it difficult to concentrate on the case. He is waiting for his father, Pietro, to come and stay. The idea of the visit is torturing him. He fears having to reveal that he is gay - most of all he fears that his partner, Leo, will reveal his sexuality to his father. Pietro, however, has other matters on his he has news of a devastating diagnosis to share with his son.
And when his life with Leo unexpectedly collides with his investigation into Michelangelo's disappearance, it seems that in the complicated web of the small town of Bolzano, the truth behind the mystery cannot hide for long.
Valse Triste is one of those rare novels in which the quality of the writing is matched by the pace of the narrative. Fois' language is precise and poetic, and the reader is kept guessing by twist after twist.
However, Striggio is finding it difficult to concentrate on the case. He is waiting for his father, Pietro, to come and stay. The idea of the visit is torturing him. He fears having to reveal that he is gay - most of all he fears that his partner, Leo, will reveal his sexuality to his father. Pietro, however, has other matters on his he has news of a devastating diagnosis to share with his son.
And when his life with Leo unexpectedly collides with his investigation into Michelangelo's disappearance, it seems that in the complicated web of the small town of Bolzano, the truth behind the mystery cannot hide for long.
Valse Triste is one of those rare novels in which the quality of the writing is matched by the pace of the narrative. Fois' language is precise and poetic, and the reader is kept guessing by twist after twist.
Paperback
Published February 18, 2021
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 23, 2021
Valse Triste is a crime novel, sure, but at the heart of it is a beautifully written character drama, an exploration of the underneath that makes us who we are.
Our main protagonist, Sergio, is a layered and emotive character to follow along with, especially within his relationship with his father, a complex and cleverly crafted one that digs deep.
The mystery element and the weaving, intricate ties to small town secrets is really well done and compelling, unpredictable and addictive.
Overall this was a great read. I look forward to more from this author.
Our main protagonist, Sergio, is a layered and emotive character to follow along with, especially within his relationship with his father, a complex and cleverly crafted one that digs deep.
The mystery element and the weaving, intricate ties to small town secrets is really well done and compelling, unpredictable and addictive.
Overall this was a great read. I look forward to more from this author.
January 11, 2025
I liked some of this a lot, but other aspects did not work for me.
It was a character-based mystery and the chief investigator is gay but in the closet. Things get tricky when his seriously ill father comes to visit. The chief investigator has to balance dealing with his father and trying to find a good time to tell his father he is gay and finding time to get together with his lover, who gets fed up with him at times. I also enjoyed the evocative, lyrical writing style.
The structure of the plot was less successful for me. After a prologue, the book is split into 4 sections named after the four elements (earth, air fire and water - although not in that order). At the start of each section there was a digression musing on the element in question, that was vaguely related to the plot, but they didn't move the plot on and they just pulled my mind out of the book. I got pretty irritated by them. There were also some clunky bridges from these musings back to the plot. The book was also sprinkled with comments in brackets. These were comments on what had just happened in the plot. Often they amounted to lists of things, for example scenes from films, the title of poems, a reference to a book , a description of a scene from a TV series. I never got what the point of these were, unless it was to show the breadth of the author's cultural knowledge. They never added to my understanding of whatever had just happened. They seemed pointless adding to me.
I really liked the aspects of the book that worked for me, but I really disliked those that didn't. I'm not sure if I would read any more by this author.
It was a character-based mystery and the chief investigator is gay but in the closet. Things get tricky when his seriously ill father comes to visit. The chief investigator has to balance dealing with his father and trying to find a good time to tell his father he is gay and finding time to get together with his lover, who gets fed up with him at times. I also enjoyed the evocative, lyrical writing style.
The structure of the plot was less successful for me. After a prologue, the book is split into 4 sections named after the four elements (earth, air fire and water - although not in that order). At the start of each section there was a digression musing on the element in question, that was vaguely related to the plot, but they didn't move the plot on and they just pulled my mind out of the book. I got pretty irritated by them. There were also some clunky bridges from these musings back to the plot. The book was also sprinkled with comments in brackets. These were comments on what had just happened in the plot. Often they amounted to lists of things, for example scenes from films, the title of poems, a reference to a book , a description of a scene from a TV series. I never got what the point of these were, unless it was to show the breadth of the author's cultural knowledge. They never added to my understanding of whatever had just happened. They seemed pointless adding to me.
I really liked the aspects of the book that worked for me, but I really disliked those that didn't. I'm not sure if I would read any more by this author.
March 7, 2021
It is difficult to find a novel as good as any of the early works of Andrea Camilleri or Donna Leon. This is one of those rare finds. An absolute treat. An irresistibly good book.
Commissario Sergio Striggio has a dying father and a boyfriend he struggles to admit to having. He is called to a site where a young boy has gone missing. So begins the unraveling of a mystery in a novel that is full of tension, twists, wit and wisdom.
There is a tender beauty and a rich humanity in the author's style. I'm not sure I will find a better novel this year.
Commissario Sergio Striggio has a dying father and a boyfriend he struggles to admit to having. He is called to a site where a young boy has gone missing. So begins the unraveling of a mystery in a novel that is full of tension, twists, wit and wisdom.
There is a tender beauty and a rich humanity in the author's style. I'm not sure I will find a better novel this year.
October 27, 2023
What is this book? Is it literary fiction, is it police procedural, is it a psychological thriller, is it poetry? It is actually all of those things, with the importance of personal relationships at the heart of the story. The writing is beautiful, as far as I can judge from the translated version. It isn't a page-turner and in fact it needs to be savoured and read slowly.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews