Death in August

In the latest novel in a series about a police detective working in the Florence of the 1960s (before air-conditioning), everyone is just about extinguished by the heat. In fact, the purgatorial atmosphere is overdone. The reader wants to say, OK, I get it. It was hot. Yet the oppression does fit the mournful character of Inspector Bordelli, lonely and still obsessed with his role in WWII. The oppressive heat also fits the locked-room mystery that Bordelli and his new assistant, the son of Bordelli's buddy in the war, are investigating. A wealthy old signora has died of what seems to be an asthma attack, but the manner of death is actually far more intricate. The best parts of this novel are Bordelli's war stories about Nazi behavior (which, Vichi states in the acknowledgements, came from his own father) and Bordelli's elaborate plans for a dinner party. The mystery plods a bit, but the character of Bordelli and the great food he enjoys rescue the novel.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist

Set in Florence in the summer of 1963, Vichi's stellar first in a new mystery series (and his U.S. debut) introduces endearingly melancholic Inspector Bordelli, whose fatigue with life shows in the mirror: "a fifty-three-year-old man... with deep circles under his eyes and sagging cheeks." Professionally, Bordelli continues to irk his supervisor, Commissioner of Police Inzipone, by using his discretion on what offenders to lock up. When the elderly-and prickly-Signora Pedretti, an asthmatic, is found dead in her bedroom, Bordelli initially suspects natural causes, until her doctor reveals that her attacks were triggered by an allergic reaction to a specific substance not generally found in Florence. That the cap to the signora's medication was screwed on tightly also suggests foul play. Vichi (Death in Florence) delivers a plausible solution worthy of a golden age crime novel. Readers will look forward to seeing more of this flawed hero. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Set in Florence, Italy, during the steamy summer of 1963, this series debut introduces the tobacco-loving Inspector Bordelli. The elderly, asthmatic Signora Pedretti-Strassen is found dead in her bed, but her home companion, Maria, believes her death was not natural. So begins an often self-consciously quaint mystery replete with odd characters, somber flashbacks of the good inspector's World War II experiences, and descriptions of food. Bordelli's first challenge is to produce evidence that the Signora was in fact murdered; the second, to produce the method employed; and the third, to determine which possibly money-hungry relative is responsible. There is a definite lack of tension in all these proceedings, but Bordelli fits the mold of the detective-you-want-to-succeed. The gathering of suspects at the end and keeping them for a marathon interview is straight out of Agatha Christie. Verdict Good for those readers who prefer their mysteries mild with a touch of the travelog about them.-Sally Harrison, Ocean Cty. Lib., Waretown, NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A first American appearance for a shrewd, worldly Florentine police inspector with some appealingly unexpected affinities. Florence, 1963. Maria Dolci is somehow convinced that Signora Rebecca Pedretti-Strassen, to whom Maria acts as full-time companion, doesn't answer her door because she's dead inside, murdered. Sure enough, when Inspector Bordelli quietly breaks into the Villa Pedretti-Strassen, he finds its mistress inside, just as dead as her companion feared. Although it's clear that the signora died of an asthma attack, Bordelli is equally inclined to follow Maria's lead in considering this a case of murder. The obvious suspects, according to the victim's brother, antic inventor Dante Pedretti, are her nephews, Anselmo and Giulio Morozzi, who have no idea that their aunt has left her considerable fortune to the Sisters of Monte Frassineto. Both brothers, however, offer an unbreakable alibi: They were out late, dining and drinking with their wives, on the night of their aunt's death. Relegating the job of building a logical case against them to his new subordinate Piras, a bright young man from Sardinia whose father served with Bordelli during the war, Bordelli focuses instead on what he does best: eating, drinking, showing up his superiors, palling around with the city's ex-cons and lowlifes, recalling his experiences in the war and the time he lost his virginity, and preparing for a climactic dinner in which his old friend Ennio Bottarini, who happens to be both a burglar and a born cook, prepares a meal for the major suspects and whomever else Bordelli has run into. Forget the ingenious, disposable mystery. Reading Vichi is like vacationing with friends who've lived in Florence all their lives, know how to enjoy all the high and low spots, and solve murders.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.