Vita Nuova

I just finished this book, and I do recommend it. I love Italy, and Nabb really knew her territory. I think she was successful in presenting her plot and characters. She also was adept in crafting her prose. There was also a slight twist at the end which was unexpected. Well done.

With the death of Nabb, her great Marshall is going to be missed. Florence has never been done so well. You could see the streets and hear the echoes of day to day life. This is a series to be read and reread.

A studious single mother is well on the way to setting her life straight when the unspeakable occurs. "Vita Nuova: A Marshal Guarnaccia" follows the Marshal as she tries to solve a baffling crime where no one has a clear motive, though there has been plenty of opportunity; the only thing that sticks out is the strange behavior of prosecutor. An exciting story for mystery readers to sink their teeth into, "Vita Nuova: A Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation" is a top pick for community library collections.

I confess, I have not read this one yet, but will as soon as the paperback comes out. Nabb's Marshall Guarnaccia is the most underrated series I know of. The 'hero' is convinced he is not particularly good at his job, he walks and thinks slowly and he absorbs the huge atmosphere that Nabb infuses into her stories. The Marshall is completely Italian but completely understated. He has sympathy without bathos and a feel for people that he fails to articulate. He remembers everything. He is kind but not kindly. The bright sun makes the Marshall's eyes water, so he wear heavy sunglasses. He is completely comfortable in the dark and confused places of the heart and soul. Nabb writes by indirection. Nabb's Italy is not the one tourists see, but the Florentine offices of the police, the small and not always charming villages and the slightly seedy aged villas, steep low hills and poor roads. Her writing is lovely, controlled and understated. Her details stay with you, evoking both a mental image and a understanding of the scene. The dust of the Marshall's path sticks to your shoes. She manages to convey more in easy sentences than many writers do in chapters. Do not miss this woman and her Marshall. This is an amazing, deserving series.

Just above Florence in her bedroom someone shoots and kills twenty-five years Daniela Paoletti. The victim is connected as the oldest daughter of an affluent Florentine nightclub owner. Marshal Guarnaccia puts aside his personal concern of life after the military to investigate the shooting homicide of the single mom PH.D candidate. Guarnaccia quickly realizes there is no apparent motive for someone to shoot the woman six times in her tower bedroom and not target anyone else, but also concludes that Daniela's family has issues. Her father remains in the hospital recovering from a stroke and his wife appears in a state of perpetual intoxication. However, most unsettling to Marshal is talk of female trafficking from Eastern Europe into Italy. This is a strong Italian police procedural that plays out on two levels. First there is the homicide investigation that leads the hero to an even bigger case haunting the world; the abduction and sale of females into sexual slavery. Additionally a second subplot has Guarnaccia concerned with personal difficult decisions as he ponders if life is passing him by starting with his deep thinking about early retirement. The late Magdalen Nabb affirms why she has been consistently one of the best mystery writers of the past decade. Harriet Klausner