Cold For The Bastards of Pizzofalcone

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.

Cold For The Bastards of Pizzofalcone (Police Procedural)

By Maurizio de Giovanni

Europa Editions

ISBN #978-1609455255

352 Pages

Price $18.00 (Paperback)

Price $8.99 (Kindle)

Rating 5-Stars

“Topnotch Writing & 3-Dimensional Characters”

The police station at Pizzofalcone was shut down after their officers were caught selling drugs instead of doing police work. A new team of officers have been selected, some from the original force not connected with the drugs, and others from the surrounding area. There are already two marks against them. The old curse still haunts the new team, plus each have their own crosses to bear. Headquarters would love to shut the new team down, while the men and women of the new Pizzofalcone wants to prove they are honest cops and good investigators. A brother and sister are murdered. The sister has a violent boyfriend, plus their father was just released from prison after beating a man to death. These are the main suspects, though others pop up through the investigation. A second case involves what at first looks like parental sexual abuse. Two cases that are critical, and must be solved fast.

It’s the characters that drive the story, and the reader is pulled into the case from the start and glued to each step of the investigation. The writing is superb, as Giovanni’s stories always are. These are the best stories coming out of Europe, and Maurizio de Giovanni is my favorite writer of police procedural and murder mysteries from anywhere in the world. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of NINA FONTAYNE

Nameless Serenade

Years ago, Vinnie Sannino left Naples on a ship bound for America, where he found fame and wealth as a boxer. But his gilded life in the new world came to an abrupt end when, during a fight, with a heavy punch to the head of his opponent, Vinnie killed a man in the ring.

Now, Vinnie's back in Italy, pining for the woman he left behind. Cettina, however, is now a married woman. She was, at least, until recently when her husband was found dead, killed by a single blow to the head. For Commissario Ricciardi, one of the most faceted cops in fiction, and his partner Maione, it is a going to be a long, rainy, week in Naples.

Nameless Serenade (World Noir)

By Maurizio De Giovanni

Europa Editions

ISBN #978-1609454609

Price $18.00 (Paperback)

Price $9.99 (Kindle)

399 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

The publisher sent me a copy for an honest review. It’s autumn in Naples, and raining. 16 years previous a young boy and girl declared their love for each other, but the boy, Vinnie stows away on a ship to America to make money and promises his sweetheart, Cettina he would return for her when he had enough money. He becomes a boxer, known as the Italian Snake, and obtains the light heavyweight championship. After accidentally killing a man in the ring he decides to return to Naples and his sweetheart. But things have changed. Cettina has married, not waiting on him any longer. In a drunken rage Vinnie threatens to kill her husband and the next morning her husband’s body is found. He has been beaten to death. Pressure is put on Commissario Ricciardi to arrest the boxer, but the detective doesn’t believe the case is closed and continues the investigation.

What a wonderful story. The author’s writing and story-telling ability keeps you turning the pages, and the mystery is never what it seems. This is the best mystery series coming out of Italy, and Maurizio De Giovanni is my favorite author in the genre. My one complaint, Commissario Ricciardi and Enrica Colombo should finally get together, and the sooner the better. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

The Apothecary's Shop

Venal physicians and legitimate healers, unscrupulous relatives, mystics and apothecaries, wealthy nobility and the wretched poor, undertakers, Eastern merchants, African slave traders, each plays a role this ingeniously constructed mystery set in the busy and licentious trade port of Venice.

The Apothecary’s Shop (Mystery)

By Roberto Tiraboschi

Europa Editions

ISBN #978-1609454173

Price $14.40 (Paperback)

Price $8.69 (Kindle)

336 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

I was given a book by the publisher for an honest review. When a young girl of a noble Grimani family disappears, the family scribe, Edgardo goes in search of her. This is Venice of the 12the century, and Edgardo isn’t in the best of health. The investigation takes him and Dr. Abella to an occult apothecary where desperate patients seek questionable medical cures.

This was an interesting mystery that kept me turning the pages, but I must admit the time period held no interest for me. However, I highly recommend this for mystery fans the world over.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Glass Souls

In the abyss of a profound personal crisis, Commissario Ricciardi feels unable to open himself up to life. He has refused the love of both Enrica and Livia and the friendship of his partner, Maione. Contentment for Ricciardi proves as elusive as clues to the latest crime he has been asked to investigate.

The beautiful, haughty Bianca, countess of Roccaspina, pleads with Ricciardi to investigate a homicide that was officially closed months ago. In the tense, charged atmosphere of 1930s Italy, where Benito Mussolini and his fascist thugs monitor the police closely, an unauthorized investigation is grounds for immediate dismissal and possible criminal charges. But Ricciardi's thirst for justice cannot be sated.

A tightly plotted historical noir novel, this eighth installment in the Commissario Ricciardi series is a gripping meditation on revenge and justice in which each character's soul reveals itself to be made of glass.

Glass Souls (Historical Noir Mystery)

By Maurizio De Giovanni

Europa Editions

ISBN #978- 1609454098

Price $12.19

424 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Giovanni Continues To Entertain.”

It’s September, and serious crimes are absent at the moment, leaving Commissario Ricciardi and his partner Brigadier Maione with nothing to do. Ricciardi is still suffering after the death of his housekeeper, and his lost love, Enrica. Maione is worried about him, but perks up when Bianca, countess of Roccaspina, approaches them to investigate a four month-old murder already solved. Her husband is in prison, awaiting trial, after confessing to the crime, but his wife wants to know why, since she knows he was with her when the crime was committed.

The case interests them, especially if her husband was somewhere else at the time. Why would he confess? Ricciardi knows murder can be pinned to either hunger or love/hate. To be doing something to occupy his mind, they take the case, though it’s against Rome to do so.

Livia believes Ricciardi is homosexual since he won’t make love to her, and Enrica may soon be engaged to a handsome German soldier, leaving his love life in limbo, and it doesn’t help when the Fascists think the police officer is a homosexual. They won’t him removed.

Glass Souls is character driven, each character proving that souls are merely glass, ready to be shattered. Even if Ricciardi can save Bianca’s soul, can he save his own? And will Enrica discover that Ricciardi also has a glass soul?  The author continues to entertain with his police novels set in Italy, whether contemporary or the 1930s. He is the best writer to come out of Europe in my opinion, and I devour every novel he writes. However, I’m anxious for Commissario Ricciardi to settle down with Enrica, and quit leaving us hanging in every novel. Bring some other characters in for romantic entanglements, and let Ricciardi and Enrica have a quiet home life for a change, after all, it’s been eight novels now, gee. Really, though, this is a wonderful series, and I highly recommend it to mystery lovers, as well as historical noir.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA

Crimes of Winter

Crime, suspense, and marital woes combine in this atmospheric procedural set in the seemingly quiet Mediterranean town of Perpignan.

This winter is going to be a rough one for Inspector Gilles Sebag, for he has discovered a terrible truth: Claire has been cheating on him. Bouncing between depression, whisky, and insomnia, he buries himself in work in an attempt to forget.

But his investigations lead him inexorably to bigger tragedies—a woman murdered in a hotel, a depressed man who throws himself from the roof of his building, another who threatens to blow up the neighborhood—all of them involving betrayals of some sort. Perpignan seems to be suffering from a veritable epidemic of crimes of passion. Adultery is everywhere! And each betrayal leads to another dramatic crime.

Sebag has an uncanny ability to slip into the skin of his suspects and solve apparently unsolvable crimes. Though professionally charmed, he is unlucky in love. He is a perfect protagonist for the town of Perpignan, sleepy and leisurely on the surface, seething with vice and violence underneath.

Crimes of Winter (Police Procedural)

By Philippe Georget

Europa Editions www.eropaeditions.com

ISBN #978-1609453893

Price $18.00

448 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Topnotch writing, Interesting Plot, And Real Characters.”

It’s the Christmas holiday, and Inspector Gilles Sebag has just found proof that his wife has had a four-month affair, and he’s trying to deal with the crises at home. However, it appears that there is an epidemic of adultery in Perpignan. And there  is something curious about several of the cases that have resulted in deaths. Someone is sending photographs to husbands showing their wives’ infidelity. Is this person responsible for the deaths, and why?

We follow Inspector Sebag as he struggles with his own marital problems, and facing family-crises that could ruin his marriage. He begins to drink more, and his mind isn’t on the official case as close as it should be, so clues elude him until he comes to grips with his personal situation. Only then can he run the person down behind the deadly string of violence.

This was another interesting case involving the French police inspector on the Mediterranean shore between France and Spain. A splendid follow-up to his premier novel, Summertime, And All The Cats Are Bored. It shows the teamwork of his team, as they investigate this strange case while dealing with their own lives and problems. There were times I couldn’t keep up with the characters, but I blame this on the foreign (to me) names, not to any fault with the author or writing. The writing was certainly topnotch, and the plot interesting, while the characters were real. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE MAN IN THE BLACK FEDORA