Cold for the bastards of Pizzofalcone

In de Giovanni's entertaining third police procedural set in Naples (after 2016's Darkness for the Bastards of Pizzofalcone), the frigid winter weather is the main topic of conversation among the officers of the city's Pizzofalcone precinct, "misfits rejected from all the other precincts," until the murders of Biagio Varricchio and his sister, Grazia, whose bodies are found in the apartment they shared. Biagio was a promising biochemistry researcher in his early 20s; the attractive Grazia, five years younger, had been working for a modeling agency. Lt. Giuseppe Lojacono and Officer Alessandra Di Nardo must figure out who would have wanted both dead. Glimpses of the disturbing points of view of the main suspects raise the tension. Meanwhile, Giorgio Pisanelli, a deputy captain, looks into a separate case involving a possible serial killer, and other members of the squad investigate an allegation of child abuse. The personal stories of the many well-drawn characters, who offer touching vignettes of life in the messy, exuberant city, provide counterpoint to the crime solving. Armchair travelers will be satisfied. (May) Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.

To save their reputations and the department, Inspector Lojacono, Di Nardo and the rest of the cops known as the “bastards” of the Pizzofalcone precinct must solve a double murder in a squalid apartment on the wrong side of town. Original.

Book 3 in de Giovanni’s bestselling “Bastards of Pizzofalcone” series is set in contemporary Naples during season of cold winds, political hijinks, and murder.A heinous, double murder in a squalid apartment on the wrong side of town pits Inspector Lojacono, Di Nardo and the rest of the motley collection of cops known as the “bastards” of the Pizzofalcone precinct against their superiors, the press, and the local political hierarchy. Only by bringing the killer to justice can they save their reputations and the department.De Giovanni is one of the most versatile, prolific, and successful Eurpean mystery in Europe. His award-winning and bestselling novels, all set in Naples, offer a brilliant vision of the criminal underworld and the lives of the cops in Europe's most fabled, atmospheric, dangerous, and lustful city.