The fatal touch A Commissario Alec Blume novel

Fitzgerald follows The Dogs of Rome (2010) with another involving adventure in the Commissario Alec Blume series. This time, the American-born commissario tackles the murder of an art forger, a case that has tentacles stretching deep into the past and encompassing a multitude of crimes. Like Iain Pears in his art mysteries starring Flavia Di Stefano, Fitzgerald uses art history to get inside his characters' heads, exposing inner lives in painterly roundness. This episode also introduces a new character, Blume's associate Caterina, who begins the case severely intimidated by her new boss but quickly comes to see through his facade and become almost a caregiver to the commissario, who despite being shrewd seems ever on the verge of collapse. Though Blume lacks the immense likability of, say, Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti, he possesses the same sensitivity toward people and, like Brunetti, is more interested in resolving the human dilemmas he encounters than in simply solving the case. This is already a series every fan of the Italian crime novel needs to know.--Ott, Bil. Copyright 2010 Booklist

In Fitzgerald's exciting sequel to The Dogs of Rome, a string of muggings targeting foreign visitors staying at Rome's tourist hotels turns deadly when a man's body is found in Trastevere, a picturesque medieval neighborhood on the Tiber's west bank. But this victim is no traveler-he's an art forger with a laundry list of enemies. Police Commissioner Alec Blume, an American expatriate who's lived in Rome for more than 20 years, and his team have barely begun investigating when the carabinieri take over. Alec calls on old friends for help as the carabinieri's crooked Colonel Farinelli tries to discredit him. The heroic if aloof Alec sees the same outsider qualities in Caterina Mattiola, a rookie inspector and single mother, whom he patiently shows the details of detective work and office politics. Intriguing touches such as the tools a forger has in the kitchen and a strong sense of Rome's environs enrich the intelligent plot. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Rome's Commissario Alec Blume suspects there is more to an old bum's death than too much drinking when his body is found in the street. Blume's instincts are spot-on as the victim-a homicide?-turns out to be Henry Treacy, an infamous art forger. Quite good at his craft, Henry left behind a detailed set of notebooks that people might kill to obtain. Blume's assistant, Insp. Caterina Mattiola, is flummoxed by her boss's unorthodox methods, but she has enough intuition to trust him. The danger ratchets up dramatically when the corrupt and powerful Col. Orazio Farinelli from the Art Forgery and Heritage Division makes it clear that he can and will kill people who hide notebooks from him. VERDICT The search for the authentic goes beyond art in this outstanding police procedural. Recommend for readers who relish a police ensemble cast (first introduced in The Dogs of Rome) just starting to gel. Donna Leon and Louise Penny fans would probably like this one, as might the Dan Brown art thriller crowd. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.