The dogs of Rome A Commissario Alec Blume novel

The appearance of a new police series set in Italy is guaranteed to whet the thirst of international crime-fiction fans, especially when a few sips evoke that heady Italian brew that comes from the smooth blending of a corrupt bureaucracy and a flawed, world-weary hero. Fitzgerald mixes the ingredients skillfully, adding a few flavors of his own. Alec Blume is an American, Seattle born, but he has spent most of his life in Rome and is now a commissario in the Italian state police, though his heritage labels him as an outsider. His ambiguous status plays a role in what appears to be a classic Italian political murder the killing of an animal-rights activist whose wife is an important politician and whose mistress has ties to the Mob. The plot unwinds with some genuine surprises, though not of the simplistic whodunit variety, but the focus here is on character: Blume, of course, but also his colleagues, who are casually comfortable with corruption, as well as the wife, the mistress, and the killer. This promising debut is reminiscent of early Michael Dibdin, and that is more than enough to put Fitzgerald's series on your radar.--Ott, Bill Copyright 2010 Booklist

Fitzgerald's impressively plotted debut, the first in a projected contemporary crime series, introduces police chief commissioner Alec Blume, an American expatriate who's been living in Rome for the last 22 years. Since losing both his parents-art historians who were shot and killed during a bank robbery on Via Cristoforo Colombo-as a teenager, Blume has been a loner of sorts, the proverbial outsider. When someone brutally murders Arturo Clemente, a prominent politician's husband and an animal rights activist who recently exposed a dog-fighting ring, in Clemente's apartment, the flawed but endearing Blume uses his unique perspective to negotiate his way through a labyrinthine minefield that includes crooked cops, unscrupulous politicians, and an ancient city whose very history is steeped in the corruption associated with organized crime. Those who like gritty crime thrillers with a European flair will be well rewarded. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Expat detective tracks a murderer through the fetid streets of Rome. Fitzgerald's debut brings little new to its lackluster portrayal of an incongruous lawman. The book opens with the graphic murder of Arturo Clemente, an animal-rights activist who is killed in his apartment just after the departure of his lover, the daughter of a local crime boss. To further complicate matters, Arturo's widow is a member of parliament related to several other powerful politicians. It's a potboiling stew for the investigating detective, whose credibility as a character is attenuated by his byzantine back story. Chief Commissioner Alec Blume is from Seattle, which would be unusual for any Italian police officer, let along one of his rank. Flashbacks reveal that Blume moved to Rome with his parents at 15; they were shot during a bank robbery when he was 17, prompting the unexpected fall through the bureaucratic cracks that allowed him to become a cop. Although the short-tempered detective has spent more of his life in Italy than America, he never fits into the vibe of Rome: "His accent, acquired in the schoolyard, was perfect Roman, but a hint of something else lay behind it, a watchfulness, a lack of spontaneity or a slight reticence in his movements. Whatever it was, he put people on their guard." All the ingredients are there, but the story plods along through an investigation tedious enough to try the patience of even the most earnest procedural enthusiasts. The few high points include some tense encounters with the local crime ring and a burgeoning romance with a prototypically sexy FBI liaison to the American embassy. But if this continues as a series, Blume will need more than his unlikely vocation and his grim disposition to win readers' affections. A dour procedural that squanders its fertile setting. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.