Death and the olive grove An Inspector Bordelli mystery

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.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist

In Vichi's compelling follow-up to Death in August (2012), set in 1964, the odd and diminutive informer Casimiro comes to Florence and tells a strange story to his friend Inspector Bordelli: he has found a dead body in Fiesole, near a closely guarded villa that belongs to a mysterious foreigner. The doubtful but dutiful Bordelli fails to find evidence of Casimiro's claim, but when more than one little girl turns up dead and mutilated, the inspector thinks that the informer may have stumbled across something sinister that implicates someone from Bordelli's past. As the investigation proceeds and the inspector deals gently with the grief-stricken mothers of the victims, it becomes clear that the evil of the Nazis casts a long shadow and that Bordelli has his own scars-and secrets-from WWII. The author's smooth style, believable characters, and astute recognition of the multiple layers involved in a crime engage the reader throughout. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Florence's Chief Inspector Franco Bordelli is no stranger to crime, having served in Italy's notorious San Marco brigade during World War II. Initially curious about a cagey German tenant at a local villa that his friend Casimiro Robetti (a dwarf) has pointed out, Bordelli is quickly diverted to a more intense and sickening investigation. A child is strangled to death, and there are no obvious clues. Pressure mounts to find this crazed killer when another child victim is found. Meanwhile, Robetti goes missing; when Bordelli checks, he finds his friend has been killed. Bordelli is perplexed by the two cases. Inquiring further, he finds a known Nazi hunter in the neighborhood, and, at that point, the dots begin to connect. While initially giving off a desultory vibe, the chain-smoking Bordelli combines a compassionate touch with dedicated police work. VERDICT Vichi's excellent second title (after Death in August) in a noteworthy police procedural series captures Italy's postwar fatigue, still palpable in the mid-1960s. Michael Dibdin's protagonist Aurelio Zen comes to mind, with Bordelli fitting the antihero mold. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Inspector Franco Bordelli (Death in August, 2012) tracks a serial killer as only he can. When Casimiro reports a dead body he found while foraging for vegetables in Fiesole, Florence's Inspector Bordelli thinks it's worth a trip into the neighboring olive groves to check out the dwarf's story. But the only body that turns up is Casimiro's, stuffed in a suitcase in his shabby room. Bummed out by his friend's undignified end, Bordelli retreats to his office to smoke too many cigarettes and ponder the unfairness of life. Meanwhile, someone kills 7-year-old Valentina Panerai and dumps her body in the park, her small corpse left with ferocious bite marks on her belly. Bordelli smokes more cigarettes and wonders why he doesn't have a woman to kiss him on the mouth when he gets home. Eventually, he interviews the victim's mother but finds no reason her daughter should have been killed. His colleague, young Piras, complains about his smoking, and Bordelli reminisces about his days with Piras' father, Gavino, in the San Marco brigade. More little girls are killed, each small corpse marked with the trademark bites. Past and present collide when Bordelli trails a suspect down Via della Vigna Nova and finds his old friend, Nazi hunter Dr. Levi. It takes Bordelli many more cigarettes plus several evenings of making love to Dr. Levi's beautiful young assistant, Milena, to sort out the grisly case. As the corpses pile up, Bordelli's ennui gets increasingly hard to sit through, even though it's only his second outing.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.