Death and the Olive Grove (Inspector Bordelli)
Vichi’s Florence in the 1960s, as seen in his Inspector Bordelli series, feels like a tour through Dante’s Inferno—the city is still pockmarked from WWII, and the inhabitants of the neighborhoods Bordelli travels through are filled with gang members, ­prostitutes, petty thieves, smugglers, and, in the latest, a killer who is evil incarnate. Inspector Bordelli, himself a veteran still shaken by his experiences fighting for both Axis and Allies in the war, is melancholy and reflective, a perfect guide through this world. Here a string of sad discoveries starts when Bordelli’s friend Casimiro reports finding the body of a man in an olive grove outside Florence. Nothing is there when the inspector and Casimiro return to the scene. Then Casimiro goes missing and is found grotesquely slain. This is followed by a heart-stopping series of child kidnappings. Vichi weaves all these strands together into a complicated tale that keeps the suspense mounting, and his incorporation of his Italian father’s war stories into the text makes a wonderful addition to the novel. --Connie Fletcher--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.