Conspiracy in Bologna

Nico Argenti Renaissance Mystery #4

by Ken Tentarelli

A vengeful renegade is targeting rogue mercenaries against the city of Florence. Can a young lawyer foil the sinister scheme?

Renaissance Italy, 1465. The first hint of trouble comes from Nico Argenti's sister, who tells him that boys are going missing from the orphanage. She prevails upon Nico to look into the matter, but before the young lawyer can do so, he is dispatched to Bologna on an official mission to investigate rogue mercenaries in a neighboring province near the Florentine border.

While in Bologna, Nico unearths a connection between the missing boys, the mercenaries, and a renegade with a vendetta against the rulers of Florence. His challenge is to stop the rogues before they wreak havoc on his beloved city.
As a lawyer, Nico attempts to thwart the mercenaries and their sponsor through legal means. Will his approach work or must he draw on other skills?

Conspiracy in Bologna is the fourth book in the best-selling Nico Argenti historical mystery series. It may be read standalone.

Buy Conspiracy in Bologna today and take a stand against lawless rogues!

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2022

About the author

Ken's latest books are a series of novellas featuring Persephone "Seph" Carano, an agent of the (fictional) Cyber Security Agency who leads the charge against cybercrime. Find the books and the scoop on Seph at https://cybercase.tech

Ken began his writing career as the author of a series of six historical thrillers set in the Italian Renaissance that have earned an Elit Silver Book Award, the Indie Reader Discovery Award, a Book Excellence Award finalist, a Publishers Weekly starred review, and the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award mystery winner, and and 2024 Independent Press Award favorite.

Ken's seventh book, The Blackest Time, a novel set during the Black Plague, is available from publisher Black Rose Writing.

Ken Tentarelli is a frequent visitor to Italy. In travels from the Alps to the southern coast of Sicily he developed a love for its history and its people. He has studied Italian culture and language in Rome and Perugia. When not traveling, Ken and his wife live in New Hampshire. He is a strong advocate for his local library.

Connect with Ken at www.KenTentarelli.com He'd love to hear from you.

Reviews

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase] · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conspiracy in Bologna is a historical mystery novel that is easy to fall in love with. The author has done an outstanding job in researching the era and describing locations like Florence and Bologna.

I found the story to be engaging, action packed and fast paced. The characters were captivating and I enjoyed an old world story that focused on a lawyer and not just the soldiers.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, these thoughts are my own.

[Philina · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked up that book I thought it would be absolutely perfect for me. You see, I’m a lawyer who spent her ERASMUS year studying in the hallowed halls of Bologna University, because she was interesting in the history of law. Which kind of historical crime story could be better then?

Well, in concurrence with a few fellow Goodreads reviewers, the better historical crime story would have been one with characters I could feel emotionally involved with. I took ages reading the book, because nothing drew me back to it. I forgot the name of Nicos two friends and mixed them up, because they had no emotionally interesting backstory making me remember them. I only remember Nico‘s name, because he is the main character. All of the characters feel totally cardboard flat. The only one with hints of an interesting backstory might be the adopted sister, but she was only in the book at the beginning and the end.

From a Bologna point of view I would have loved and expected more flashbacks to Nico‘s university days which would have made the story much more interesting for me.

I appreciated the court proceedings, but in my opinion it botched the ending of the book, which was an anticlimactic non-ending.

Either, a) have the court proceedings as the climax with a lot more tension and a positive outcome for Nico, or b) use it as set-up in the sense that the court cannot deliver justice and have the Bentivoglio mercenaries together with Nico‘s gang and maybe the Florentine army have a battle with Attendolo or at least escort the antagonist to Florence for a conspiracy trial (Florence being another state where justice has not been exhausted yet).

All in all, I think I would have preferred reading non-fiction from such a knowledgeable author. I loved learning a couple of things about the past from this book, but in between interesting facts a sadly very boring story intervened and had to be gotten through first.

Thanks to BookSirens for the free review copy. The above stated review is my personal opinion and was given freely.

[Denial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start this off with the “disclaimer” that historical and mystery are some of my least favorite genres; this is a historical mystery.

That out of the way I suppose I should also add that my first impression of this book was that the blurb gave the entire story away. Hang on, hang on, don't stop reading this just yet because while all those points are negative leaning this was actually a decent read (hence my rating). Was it the most exciting thing ever? No. But was it as boring as my preconceived notions? Also no. It also isn't exactly Poirot (not Belgian for one) but it is one of the first comparisons that came to mind though this has an air I'd say is like Sherlock Holmes novels only that Nico is much less solely ruled by logic (not to say he isn't capable of collecting clues and solving mysteries just not a la Holmes).

Our main character is a lawyer (well he has a Doctor of Law degree in the Renaissance, which I'm not about to fact check was a thing so lawyer it is) which isn't something I've seen too often and I think it's fair to sum him up as a good guy with morals (with a big helping of detective and a side of “spy”). While the blurb does basically lay out the plot I didn't mind because the story flows and just came off to me as delivering on what was promised; if anything this had more action than I expected. I also appreciate that while this is the fourth book in the series it can be read as a standalone (which is good because I in fact just jumped in on this one).

In conclusion I'm not raving about this book but it's certainly one of the better historical mysteries I've read (which are admittedly few) however if this is your genre (or era) then I think this won't disappoint.

[Stephanie | Upstate NY · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The author has good writing technique. The map and the character listed in the beginning was fabulous. In fact, the points in story-line were all developed and actually there.

My biggest difficulty with the book, was that I didn't connect with any characters. It was hard to empathize, relate or otherwise really feel engaged with the story line...and here's why. It reads like a history book or a children's book. Where the story is being narrated to you. Everything is connected. However, it lacks a cause and effect within the characters that would draw the reader in. The characters themselves don't really seem interested or really seem to care about one another BEYOND a superficial level.

For example when Nico's sister states that Nicos love interest didn't know he left the area for work. Nico's sister states that he should tell her next time. Nico is sort of indifferent.... not worried..... not concerned and doesn't really care. And this happens throughout the book with various other situations between characters who are close friends. Or close relatives.

The author knows his history and I would anticipate his goal was to be as authentic to the time period as possible. But without taking some lee-way during the story-telling to make it more engaging....the story is limited in it's ability to draw in readers.

As it is - I could only recommend this to a young boy age 10-14 ish. It's a clean plot line with political intrigue. But outside of that, it's long, and lacking engagement with the reader. And I don't see it being wildly successful outside of this type of niche group right now.

I would in the future read more of this authors books as he expands his repertoire. But I will not go back to read others in this series.

This review was provided as result of an ARC via BookSirens.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I didn't really like the previous book I read in this series, if I remember well I gave it two stars, I decided to give the author another chance mainly because it is set in two of the cities I love most in Italy, Florence and Bologna.

I must say that I'm happy I gave the seres a second chance because I liked this book much better than the previous one. The story starts in Florence where young boys disappear from the (now) famous "Ospedale degli innocenti", the oldest public institution in Florence. Should you ever find yourself in Florence with some time to go sightseeing I can heartily recommend a visit to this lovely building.

Nico Argenti is presured by his "sister" to find out what has happened to the boys. This quest, together with an inquiry into reports about Enrico Strozzi's move from Venice to Bologna is the reason why Nico Argenti and his two colleagues find themselves in Bologna on another investigative mission for the Florentine security committee.

The book actually has three storylines which neatly come together at the end.

Probably because I already knew the main characters from the previous book I found this episode much more comprehensive although I still think that the characters are rather flat. The historical facts and context are well researched however, so 4 stars for this one.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[SHIRLEY · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this mystery set in Florence and Bologna because I thought the characters were well developed, the story line was believable, suspenseful and I think that the author brought 15th century Renaissance Italy to life.
Nico was able to merge his personal goals (or those of his sister) with those of his job and he had 2 colleagues to work diligently with him. It was interesting to have a courtroom scene and witnesses who were intimately involved in the crimes - that was thankfully abbreviated, but focused on the issue. Although I was familiar with the different city-states in Italy prior to unification, I did not realize that they were governed by such discrepant bodies. I liked the way the characters used their strengths to solve the issues.
The story was developed in a way that I could understand without alternating timelines and the progression was logical and engaging. I had heard of Strozzi (and in fact stayed at the Strozzi Palace in Florence), but I had no idea why they left Florence, nor did I realize how wealthy the family was.
I received an advance review copy for free from Book Sirens and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Peter Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of a series of mysteries in the life of lawyer Nico Argenti.
This one is set in Florence and Bologna.
For me the descriptions of the various places in Italy was excellent.
I did find that the pace was a little slow for my taste, and the characters were a little predictable.
I found that the book wasn't strong enough to encourage me to read it in one or two sittings, although every time I visited there was something of interest.
A more exciting plot that was not as easy to guess along the way would have earned the book five stars, and I will be searching out the previous and future books to read, but they won't be next on my reading list.
I would like to thank the publishers for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sam Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched and well-written book set in Florence and Bologna in the 15th century. I really enjoyed the descriptions - when the main character walks around the cities, you really feel like you're there with him. The mystery is intriguing and the author manages to weave in many historical facts without adding "heaviness" to the story. The only reason I am giving it four stars is that I prefer faster-paced reads, but that is just a personal preference and has nothing to do with the quality of the novel. Even though he's a lawyer, Nico reminds of Hercule Poirot in Renaissance Italy. :) I received an advance review copy for free from Book Sirens and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Julianna Lochte · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, a good historical page turner, but a defect

I enjoy reading this series as a solo traveler then I am in Florence or Northern Italy. This was an interesting plot that added new characters to expand Tentarelli’s story line. However, I believe the best historical fiction tracks with modern themes and this was perhaps his best opportunity to step up to that level, and it either never occurs to the author or he resembles is Sardinian villain and simply doesn’t want to do the work. What about the boys? Nick Argenti, an example of progressive justice in the age of the Renaissance should surely have made an effort to bring kidnapped child mercenaries home.

[Freya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I don't often read about the Italian states during this period, so it was a refreshing change to the usual British soldier or royalty fiction I usually read. Plus, the story kept me guessing to the end which I love.

I have not read the previous three, but am captivated enough to seek them out!