This page is an index of all of the works currently reviewed on the blog that are written by Italian authors.
C
Piero Chiara
The Bishop’s Bedroom
A man who spends his days drifting in his boat across a lake in Northern Italy gets to know a married man and agrees to take him on his next journey.
More a work of literary fiction than a genre piece being neither mysterious nor suspenseful. Sadly it didn’t work for me.
D
Augusto de Angelis
The Murdered Banker
Commissario De Vincenzi meets a friend who is in a dire financial, owing a banker a payment by the end of the night that he could not afford. A banker who turns up dead in that friend’s home.
…I initially struggled a little to adjust to the novel’s rhythm and some of the poetic turns of phrase which sit alongside some much more direct writing.
Emilio de Marchii
The Priest’s Hat
A nineteenth century inverted mystery based on a real murder case.
While the book’s age may make it a curiosity for fans of the inverted mystery, I think it is an enjoyable example of the form in its own right.
M
Marco Malvadi
Game for Five
The first is a series set around a bar in rural Italy. In this a young woman’s body is found inside a trash can near the bar prompting the owner and his four regulars to try to work out what happened.
I really enjoyed the characters Malvaldi creates, particularly the group of regulars in the bar, and I think he captures some of the teasing and prodding that can build up among a group of friends who know each other well.
Mysteries Ahoy! 