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Death in a Serene City
An American writer searches for a kidnapped Venetian saint In a remote Venice church, a dead woman named Santa Teodora lies before the altar. She has been there for centuries, ever since the Crusaders carried her mummified body away from the Holy Land, and she is as much a part of this mysterious city as the Grand Canal itself. Urbino Macintyre, an American expatriate who makes a living writing biographies of legendary Venetians, believes he knows every detail of Teodora’s legend, but another chapter is about to be added to her myth. Twenty years after a flood ravaged the city, Santa Teodora has vanished from the church. Macintyre’s nose for history leads him to investigate the case, which he suspects might be related to the demises of two local women. Death can no longer touch the saint, but it may be waiting for Urbino Macintyre.
The Veils of Venice
Investigating a killing, Macintyre finds it to be a family affair As snow falls on Venice, turning the city into an elaborate gothic confection, Gaby Pindar fears for her life. Crippled by intense agoraphobia, she hasn’t left her family home in two decades, instead dedicating herself to tending to the small collection of historical trinkets that make up the family museum. When she begins receiving death threats, she begs for help from her cousin, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, whose friend Urbino Macintyre is something of an amateur sleuth. But the search takes a gruesome turn when Gaby’s sister, Olimpia, turns up dead. The contessa finds Olimpia murdered in her home, the maid kneeling above her with a bloody pair of scissors. Convinced of the maid’s innocence, Macintyre digs into the Pindar family history, discovering centuries’ worth of intrigue that have finally erupted in blood.
Black Bridge
Urbino Macintyre fights to protect the safety of his closest friend Centuries ago, Venice celebrated the Day of All Souls by building a bridge of boats across the canal to the cemetery island of San Michele. As the tourist season winds down, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini decides it’s time to revive the tradition, organizing a fleet so the city can mourn once more as it did in ancient times. Her plans are upended, however, when her latest fascination, a rakish playwright named Bobo, begins receiving anonymous threats. She begs her friend, the amateur sleuth Urbino Macintyre, to find out who has been sending the letters, a thankless chore that becomes rather more interesting when Bobo is implicated in a grisly murder. As the day of the contessa’s black bridge draws closer, Macintyre scrambles to discover the true killer and keep his friend safe. If he doesn’t act quickly, the contessa’s journey to the cemetery may be a one-way trip.
Liquid Desires
Summer in Venice is brutal, and the heat is beginning to drive the people of this quiet city mad. A woman storms into the galleries at the Biennale art fair and slashes a painting with a knife. A young girl is found raped and murdered in her own bed. And a model named Flavia Brollo appears at the home of Urbino Macintyre’s closest friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, to declare that she is the noblewoman’s illegitimate daughter. It is an outrageous declaration, and it will mean the contessa’s doom. When Flavia is found floating in the canal, Macintyre dedicates himself to finding the person who murdered this poor, disturbed woman. His inquiries lead him back to the Biennale, where the art world’s most powerful figures congregate to buy, sell, and indulge their darkest desires. Before the fair is over, Macintyre will discover that even murder can be a work of art.
Frail Barrier
At summer’s end, Urbino Macintyre races to save an innocent life In the sun-blasted expanse of St. Mark’s Square, hundreds of tourists form a slow-moving herd, dragging themselves forward on a tortuous sightseeing expedition. Inside the elegant Caffè Florian, the atmosphere is more refined as Urbino Macintyre shares a conversation with his beloved friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini. Life in Venice is serene, and they are happier than they have ever been—until a murder shatters the peace of the caffè. Three seemingly unrelated deaths catch Macintyre’s attention, and the amateur sleuth throws himself into unraveling their mysteries. But is there a connection, or is the obsessive American expatriate seeing a conspiracy where none exists? In the days leading up to the annual Historical Regatta, Macintyre discovers a plot against an innocent person. To save a life, he will have to discover the ugly truth that lurks beyond the beauty of St. Mark’s Square.
Farewell to the Flesh
During Carnival, Urbino Macintyre discovers a murder in a convent Each of the sisters of the Charity of Santa Crispina chooses a different way to die. Some relax into the arms of death, eager for their eternal rewards. Some leave this world violently, screaming in pain as they take their last breaths. The convent is a severe place, its rooms spartan, its food bland. But the time has come for Carnival in Venice, and a tourist will take any room he can find. Photographer Val Gibbon has come to document the renovation of a nearby church, but he has hardly begun his work before a knife finds its way into his chest, and the convent becomes a crime scene. American expatriate Urbino Macintyre, a biographer and amateur sleuth, sets aside his plans for Carnival to look into the murder. In this ancient city, nothing is ever as it seems—especially not in the season when the only creature not wearing a mask is death itself.
Scene of the Crime
Offering analysis of the fiction of 15 authors for whom the setting greatly contributes to their overall literary style, this book focuses on the many ways that "place" figures in modern crime and mystery novels. The authors (and their settings) are: Georges Simenon (Paris), Donna Leon (Venice), Tony Hillerman (American Southwest), Walter Mosley (South Central Los Angeles), George P. Pelecanos (Washington, D.C.), Sara Paretsky (Chicago), James Lee Burke (Southern Louisiana), Carl Hiaasen (South Florida), Ian Rankin (Edinburgh), Alexander McCall Smith (Botswana), James McClure (South Africa), Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo (Stockholm), Paco Ignacio Taibo II (Mexico City), Leonardo Sciascia (Sicily) and Lindsey Davis (Ancient Rome).
Deadly to the Sight
Back in Venice after a long absence, Urbino Macintyre pursues a blackmailer For two years, Urbino Macintyre has been away from his beloved city, wandering the streets of Morocco in search of material for his next book. When he steps off the train and into a gondola in Venice, he knows he has come home. His first stop is to see his beloved friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, a society butterfly who has two years of gossip stored up for him. But the contessa is not her usual lively self. She is being blackmailed, and only Macintyre can help. He follows the blackmailer, an old woman from the lace-making island of Burano, seeking clues to her motives. When she is found murdered at a cocktail party, Macintyre slips into the expat society of the tiny, remote island, where land is expensive, life is cheap, and gossip can be a deadly weapon.
The Last Gondola
Investigating a few lost trinkets, Urbino Macintyre discovers a mysterious murder Samuel Possle is Venice’s oldest expatriate, a reclusive former playboy whose hedonistic youth would make the perfect subject for a book—that is, if any writer could make him talk. Biographer and amateur sleuth Urbino Macintyre has been trying for months to get an interview with Possle, and he is about to give up when his closest friend, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini, offers to introduce him to Possle in exchange for a favor. Worthless items have gone missing from her home, and she wants Macintyre to find out if they were stolen or if her mind is beginning to slip. What appears to be an innocuous case will lead Macintyre down a treacherous canal. Interviewing Possle and searching for the contessa’s missing baubles draws the detective into the city’s gothic underbelly, where dark figures seem to lurk around every corner, and the fog conceals terrible secrets.
The Dragon Tattoo and Its Long Tail
The enormous popularity of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy has raised awareness of other contemporary European authors of crime fiction. As a result, several of these novelists now reach a receptive American audience, eager for fresh perspectives in the genre. This critical text offers an introduction to current European crime writing by exploring ten of the best new crime nd mystery authors from Sweden (Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell), Norway (Karin Fossum and Jo Nesbo), Iceland (Arnaldur Indridason), Italy (Andrea Camilleri), France (Fred Vargas), Scotland (Denise Mina and Philip Kerr), and Ireland (Ken Bruen), who are reshaping the landscape of the modern crime novel. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
