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Naples, March 1931: a bitter wind stalks the city's streets, and murder lies at its chilled heart. As one of the world's greatest tenors, Maestro Vezzi, is found brutally murdered in his dressing room at Naples' famous San Carlo Theatre, the enigmatic and aloof Commissario Ricciardi is called in to investigate. Arrogant and bad-tempered, Vezzi was hated by many, but with the livelihoods of the opera at stake, who would have committed this callous act? Ricciardi, along with his loyal colleague, Maione, is determined to discover the truth. But Ricciardi carries his own secret: will it help him solve this murder? A gripping mystery set in Fascist Italy.
The eighth Commissario Ricciardi historical mystery from the author of The Bottom of Your Heart “will surprise readers at every turn” (La Reppublica). In the abyss of a profound personal crisis, Commissario Ricciardi feels unable to open himself up to life. He has refused the love of both Enrica and Livia and the friendship of his partner, Maione. Contentment for Ricciardi proves as elusive as clues to the latest crime he has been asked to investigate. The beautiful, haughty Bianca, countess of Roccaspina, pleads with Ricciardi to investigate a homicide that was officially closed months ago. In the tense, charged atmosphere of 1930s Italy, where Benito Mussolini and his fascist thugs mon...
Transferred to Naples after a tangle with the Sicilian Mafia, Detective Inspector Giuseppe Lojacono feels that he's marking time, waiting out an awkward scandal. But when the bloodied bodies of teenagers start appearing around the city, victims of a strange and sinister killer whom police and locals take to calling The Crocodile, it soon becomes clear to Lojacono that the killings are more than simple Mafia hits, and that the labyrinthine streets of Naples are more deadly than he'd dared imagine. Can he catch the assassin in time to save the city's innocents? A bestseller in Italy, The Crocodile is a dark, bloody story of murder and revenge that will grip and thrill you.
The tenth Commissario Ricciardi Neapolitan mystery is "endlessly surprising... a delicate balancing act between love and pain, horror and beauty."--ThrillerNord Christmas has just passed and the city is preparing to celebrate New Year when, on the stage of a variety show, famous actor Michelangelo Gelmi fires a gun at his wife, Fedora Marra. The shooting itself would be nothing strange: it is repeated every evening as part of their performance. But this time, someone replaced one of the blanks with a real bullet. Gelmi swears his innocence, but few believe him. Approaching old age and with a career in decline, the actor has become increasingly dependent on his wife, much younger than him and at the height of her fame. However, rumor has it that she had fallen in love with another man and was preparing to leave Gelmi. A straightforward case of infidelity and marital jealousy? Commissario Ricciardi has more than one doubt. A mystery made darker by the sudden fog that envelops an almost gothic Naples, Commissario Riccardi's latest adventure will enrapture readers until its final, dramatic act.
A new series of hardboiled crime fiction set in contemporary Naples by the author of the internationally bestselling Commissario Ricciardi series. They've made a fresh start at the Pizzofalcone precinct of Naples. They fired every member of the investigative branch after they were found guilty of corruption. Now, there's a new group of detectives, a new commissario, and a new superintendent. The new cops immediately find themselves investigating a high-profile murder that has the whole town on edge. Heading the investigation is Inspector Lojacono, known as the Chinaman, a cop with a chequered past and a reputation as crack investigator. Lojacono's partner is Aragona, who wants to be known as...
The author of the Commissario Ricciardi series “manages to conjure up the terrifying darkness at the heart of a serial killer in this chilling procedural” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The chaotic, shadowy city of Naples proves the perfect hunting ground for a killer dubbed “The Crocodile” by the press. Like a crocodile, when he devours his own children, he cries. And like a crocodile he is a perfect killing machine: He waits and watches until his prey is within range, and then he strikes. Three young people with very diverse backgrounds have been found murdered in three different neighborhoods, each shot with a single bullet, execution style. While his colleagues see little o...
As Naples prepares for its holiday celebrations, behind the facade of order and happiness imposed by the fascist regime, lurks terrible poverty and blinding desperation. In a luxurious apartment on the Mergellina beach the bodies of a fascist militia officer and his wife have been found. The woman has had her throat cut while the man has been stabbed over sixty times. Seemingly, the hands of two separate killers have been at work. A statuette of San Giuseppe, patron saint of workers, lies in pieces on the floor. At the scene of the crime, Ricciardi, who has the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death, listens to the enigmatic last words of the couple. Accompanied by his faithful partner Brigadier Raffaele Maione, and once more troubled by two women who compete for his attentions, the Commissario will have to trace a wide and frenetic arc through the streets of Naples in order to uncover the truth.
As Naples prepares for its holiday celebrations, behind the facade of order and happiness imposed by the fascist regime, lurks terrible poverty and blinding desperation. In a luxurious apartment on the Mergellina beach lie the bodies of a fascist militia officer and his wife. A statuette of San Giuseppe, patron saint of workers, lies in pieces on the floor near their bodies. At the scene of the crime, Ricciardi, who has the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death, listens to the enigmatic last words of the couple. Accompanied by his faithful partner, Brigadier Raffaele Maione, and once more troubled by two women who compete for his attentions, the Commissario will have to trace a wide and frenetic arc through the streets of Naples in order to uncover the truth. “de Giovanni has created one of the most interesting and well-drawn detectives in fiction, and this book is a real treat that should not be missed by crime lovers.”—The Daily Beast
A new series of hardboiled crime fiction set in contemporary Naples by the author of the internationally bestselling Commissario Ricciardi series. They’ve made a fresh start at the Pizzofalcone precinct of Naples. They fired every member of the investigative branch after they were found guilty of corruption. Now, there’s a new group of detectives, a new commissario, and a new superintendent. The new cops immediately find themselves investigating a high-profile murder that has the whole town on edge. Heading the investigation is Inspector Lojacono, known as the Chinaman, a cop with a chequered past and a reputation as crack investigator. Lojacono’s partner is Aragona, who wants to be kn...
The ninth Commissario Ricciardi Neapolitan mystery is “noir with a heart, haunting and beautiful . . . A literary thriller of exceptional quality” (NB Magazine). Years ago, Vinnie Sannino left Naples on a ship bound for America, where he found fame and fortune as a boxer. But his gilded life in the new world came to an abrupt end when, during a fight, with a heavy punch to the head of his opponent, Vinnie killed a man in the ring. Now, Vinnie’s back in Italy, pining for the woman he left behind. Cettina, however, is now a married woman. She was, at least, until her husband was recently found dead, killed by a single blow to the head. For Commissario Ricciardi, one of the most faceted c...