Tome Time - The Death of a Mafia Don by Michele Giuttari

Started August 21st, finished August 24th
This is my favourite so far of this author's books.  Either he is getting better or I'm getting more accustomed to his style.
This is a very Italian crime novel.  Looking into the Mafia and what surrounds them.  The author is still enjoying planting the character he seems to write himself as at the centre of everything in the world he's created.  This irritated me less in this book than the others.  Described these books could sound very similar to the Brunetti series.  In reality I'd say they're very different.  I see this author as an Alpha Male describing himself as he sees himself in these books.  The other characters aren't as well described but that doesn't really cause me problems.
I found this a good story I rolled through quite easily.  I found the final chapters a tad fantastic but I let it go.  The bit I found most irritating was the the consequences of the final chapters wasn't ever looked into.  Maybe in the next book?  This is a fun crime story that can't be read with a critical eye.  Just roll with it.  I wouldn't advise reading this without reading the book prior to this though A Death in Tuscany, as that forms the backbone of a lot of this book.
3.5 pawprints out of 5
Next - The Haunting of Gad's Hall by Norah Lofts

Book 39 of the 50 Book Challenge

A Death in Tuscany by Michele Giutarri, 381 pages

Started June 6th, finished June 10th.

This is the second book in the series.  The author is writing a novel based on his experiences as the chief of the Florence 'Flying Squad'.  The character even has the same first name as he does.  When he's telling the story it's a good read.  There are little bits here and there that seem too much about him though and they irritated me a little.  As the story gets going these tail off.

The story begins with the death of a young unidentified girl.  Never a nice place to begin.  It has plenty of twists and turns.  The inevitable 'hero coming up against the system' parts.  It also has some dark subject matter.  This is dealt with well though.  The horrible tale is told but without any unnecessary dwelling on the horrific parts.  

The story shows the differences Italians feel between the old states.  Also the way Europe is changing.  The differences between the Italian regions fascinates me.  I never tire of it being brought up in novels.

All in all this is a good story that, once it finds its feet, rips along at a good pace.  I'm not sure how fanciful some of the plot points are.  I'm not entirely sure I found them all believable but it didn't hinder my enjoyment.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

4 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 39, Pages -12,001

Next - Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch

Book 16 of the 50 Book Challenge

A Florentine Death  by Michele Giuttari, 355 pages

Started March 14th, finished March 17th

This is a new author for me.  He is an ex Chief Superintendent with the Italian police.  He's worked in various places but was born Sicilian and ended his career in Florence.  He has worked on both the anti-mafia and flying squads.

Obviously his inner, recent knowledge of the workings of what he writes about is a big bonus.  What I can't figure out is how much is him and how much is his main character, Michele Ferrera.  He states that Ferrera is the man he'd like to be.  I get the impression, from his writings, that neither Giuttari or Ferrera suffer from a lack of ego.

I enjoyed this book.  I literally flew through the pages.  I have the next two in the series and I'm looking forward to them.  I'm unsure of his attitude to women.  One female character was introduced with only one adjective, attractive.  Another was described as beautiful but I still have no idea what she actually looked like.  The men's descriptions gave a much better picture of the characters.

This is the tale of a serial killer with some nice descriptions of Florence.  A little look at the Catholic church and a mafia flirtation.  Pretty much what I imagine when I think of Italy.

4 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 16, Pages - 4,751

Next - Where's My F*cking Latte? by Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff