Heather’s Bookshelf: Death in a Bookstore
Author: Augusto de Angelis
Released: 12/02/19
Genre: Murder Mystery/Detective Novel
“On his knees, he looked carefully around the corpse. The floor was dusty. But from the door—connecting the room on the right to the courtyard—to the body, the dust had disappeared all along a wide strip, as if the corpse had been dragged on the ground.”
“Death in a Bookstore” was originally published as Sei donne e un libro in 1936, and is appearing in English for the first time.
The story is set in Milan in the 1930s and introduces Inspector De Vincenzi when he gets a call to investigate the death of a senator. Meanwhile, a package is found on the street with a message to deliver the contents to the police. Instruments belonging to the deceased are found within the parcel.
Senator Magni’s body is found by a clerk in a bookstore where the only other thing out of place is a missing book called La Zaffetta. De Vincenzi investigates those around the senator, his job as a surgeon, and his past. Connections to the supernatural appear along the way…as do more mysterious and connected deaths.
The superintendent gives De Vincenzi an ultimatum- solve the case within 8 days or resign. Will the inspector find the killer before it’s too late?
Trigger Warning: murder
Overall, I enjoyed this mystery. It reads much more like a crime/police procedural than a thriller or suspense novel. The pacing is slower and the characters abundant, though not especially developed. The focus of the narrative is the inspector and his investigation. The story sets up for suspects galore and requires the reader to really pay attention to all the little nuances, statements, and clues. It is very different than your typical 2000s thriller mystery and may turn off some readers by the slower pacing. But, if you get into the head of De Vincenzi, you can pretty much follow in his footsteps for the investigation. The setting of Milan was also vividly described and added to the immersive nature of the story. While I’ve been to Italy, I have not been to Milan and now I want to go! This book was a translation and from a much earlier era- so I wonder if the excessive use of exclamation points was due to this? I’m not usually one to remark on editing or style preferences, but I found this to be quite distracting and challenging to the style of the rest of the book. The ending was a good one with a surprise, full resolution of the mystery, and a feeling of completeness for the main characters and tale.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A mystery set in 1930s Milan focused on Inspector De Vincenzi and his methods. More police procedural than thriller or suspense.
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