The Marshal at the Villa Torrini

Customer Reviews:

An Italian Maigret.......2000-09-08

Very much in the spirit of Simenon's Maigret series, Magdalen Nabb's Marshal Guarnaccia mysteries are equal parts procedural insight, portrait of society, and character study. Nabb captures the spirit of real police work, especially when complicated by the politics and bureaucracy that dominate present-day Italy. She also presents Florence in all its beauty and tawdriness, as seen through the eyes of her southern-born hero. The Marshal is a marvellous creation, an eternal outsider who thinks himself to be slow and is regularly underestimated by colleagues and criminals alike. Nabb's books are too often underestimated as well--by the likes of people who cannot spell either aficionado or eccentric--which is a shame. While Michael Dibdin's fine books centering on the adventures of Aurelio Zen are more sensational, Nabb's Guarnaccia novels have every bit as much heart and shrewd observation. I recommend them all and devoutly wish that *The Monster of Florence* would finally be published in the U. S.

Like Water Dehydrating.......2000-04-15

This mystery has it all: awkward writing, a simplistic plot with no twists or turns, a plodding protagonist who never redeems himself, and snippets of a totally unnecessary and unexplained second mini-police/judicial case crowding its way throughout the main story.

This book may be the ideal reading material for excentric elderly English spinsters who speak to their dead Pomeranians or Pekinese and don't wish to have their pulses quickened.

I actually read every last word -- even to the final page -- to ensure that there was not some exceedingly clever turn of events that would make the pedestrian writing and jumble of disjointed events come together brilliantly. Nothing to fear: the author did not pull a Columbo.

Book Description

In a thriller of astounding menace and power, the acclaimed author of A Season for the Dead returns to the landscape he has made his own–the seething landscape of modern-day Rome–where ancient crimes lie hidden beneath colorful, bustling avenues. Here a teenage girl has disappeared, a detective is exploring a 2000-year-old ritual–and an astonishing mystery is about to unravel in a city of secrets and rage….

The Villa of Mysteries

In Rome’s crowded Campo dei Fiori, a woman rushes up to two carabinieri lounging in their sunglasses and uniforms, insisting that her sixteen-year-old daughter has just been abducted. Detective Nic Costa sees the scene unfold and intervenes. Because Costa knows what the two officers don’t: that in the morgue at Rome’s police headquarters, a forensic pathologist is examining the strange, mummified corpse of another
girl, whose disappearance and death bear haunting similarities….

Police pathologist Teresa Lupo is Nic’s colleague, friend, and his only equal when it comes to breaking the rules to get results, whatever the cost. Now, after years of living with the dead, Teresa insists that her superiors move quickly to save a life. Poring over the body of the girl in the morgue, she has found too many similarities between the girls, including a unique, leering tattoo. Lupo is sure that the vanished girl is headed for a bizarre ancient Bacchanalia involving virgins and sacrificial murder–a ritual that is only days away.

As Nic and Teresa claw at the case from two sides–and as Nic finds himself at once puzzled and beguiled by the missing girl’s seductive mother–a chilling picture is beginning to emerge…of secret relationships and sexual depravity, organized crime and unimaginable corruption. With the clock ticking down on a young girl’s life, Nic and Teresa are about to make the most horrifying discovery of all–in a pit of human darkness, where an age-old malevolence still endures, evil has consumed innocence…and a very modern vengeance has begun.

A spellbinding mix of suspense, forensic science, and human drama, The Villa of Mysteries will catch you off guard at every turn–a novel that is at once heartbreaking and impossible to put down.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Superb and articulate jumble of emotions and action.......2007-03-12

Well, the reviews are certainly all over the place on this one with ratings from one to five stars. I have complained that Hewson is of two distinct writing personalities - the literary, deep, human author displayed in this series and the bored, uninvolved writer in the godawful "Solstice" series. It's like two different people. Personally, I loved the darn thing (this one) like I have all the "Italian" mysteries. Once I started I could not put it down. Finally I pulled over to a parking lot to read the last two chapters. Yep, I was hooked by the same crew as the Sacret Cut, a superior book in some ways.

The manner in which the relationships among and within these agencies are told is true literary genius - subtle, dark, ironic and frequently thought provoking. The brooding Nic finally returns and is teamed with his former boss who has committed a massive error of judgement. My favorite character of the series, pathologist Theresa Lupo, plays a starring role. But the real star is, surprisingly, the Mafia Dom whose personality, mood and exuberance for life and death comes to dominate the story.

Without giving away too much, the book has a fantastic opening and segues into a familiar tale of an old crime that suddenly rears its head in relation to a current crime. Folks may gripe at the sketchy detail or the lack of "authenticity" (I thought it fine) but it is the literary quality of the book that I most admire - the twisting but always rational plot, the turn of events, the slow change of attitudes, the sudden insights and finally the resolution which is not like a usual crime novel. There are literally hundreds of mystery writers out there, many putting out large print, 250 page "novels" as realistic as snow in the Sahara with subjects so drab that Mr Rogers would shine. There are authors that specialize in the horror of crime, the sadistic or fetish sides, the "serial killer" types, etc. But in the end, it all boils down to human relationships and this is why this book deserves five stars. It depicts our emotions in all their lying, truthful, gritty ways and our attempts not to fool others but in the end, ourselves. My Grade: A

Rush to Publish?.......2006-12-15

OK, I'm a glutton for punishment I guess but I've now read all three of the Nic Costa series. This is the worst of them.

Perhaps author David Hewson was in a rush to get another book out, but he seems to have lost his feel for fundamentals of language, plot, and character. Poor Nic nearly died in the last book, and the author does nothing to breathe life back into him -- not a single detail is added, and what little we knew of him from book one is not even repeated for the benefit of the reader who might be a newcomer to the series. The same is true of other characters who made it into the second book. Only Nic's new partner is depicted with some sympathy, but he's pretty much a cardboard cutout too.

The secret goings-on that underlie the plot here are trite and not very well developed. A conspiracy to hide something from the past is pretty standard fare, but here, Hewson gives us only a very thin and unconvincing explanation of how an extremely disparate group of characters somehow came to be involved in the same cabal.

I don't expect fine literature in a mystery novel; the test is whether it can hold your interest over the course of the book, and this one doesn't. Even if you're captive on a long flight, you might be tempted to watch the movie.

For folks like my wife, who always want to read their series in order, it's interesting that Villa has an earlier copyright date than Season for the Dead, even though the latter is clearly the first in the story line.

let's do the twist.......2006-07-25

David Hewson is a fresh voice in the huge genre of mysteries set in places other than America. Villa of Mysteries has an attractive central character in Nic Costa, a young, bright, and thoughtful Questura inspector who does not suffer from the overlay of perfection that so many others of this type are given. Villa takes place in Rome and its immediate environs, and Hewson's settings in the ancient port city of Ostia, where the crimes are perpetrated, are well described and atmospheric. The police subculture, which is complicated in Italy, is also well portrayed. As for plotting, this story offers unforeseen twists and turns every couple of chapters, and is tricky enough to permit an element of genuine surprise to pop up at the end.
I'm now reading the first of this short series, A Season for the Dead, and enjoying that as well.

Villa of Boredom.......2006-02-28

I love this genre, police procedurals, but have never read this author's work and thought this would be a great one to start on. Instead, I struggled with maintaining any interest in the characters, who I found to be unsympathetic, one-dimensionally drawn and therefore, boring! I also found the storyline to be a tired and very contrived old one. I woun't give you a synopsis; others will do that, I'm sure. I found the protagonist, a police detective, to be duly angst-ridden, but underneath the steely exterior, there is usually some redeeming feature that makes us interested in them and even like them. Moreover, I could not like or even maintain my interest in any of the stereotypical main characters: the detective with a tragic past, his superior, whose problem seemed to be infidelity, the spunky troublemaking, female pathologist and the jaded old cop, smoking like a facory and demoted for having sex with a female prostitute as part of a payoff in a payola scam. If you like this genre, read the masters: Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Robert Wilson, Reginald Hill, James Hime, Kirino's great "Out," a Japanese procedural that is UNBELIEVABLE!, and David Baldacci. I bought 2 of this series and will try the other to see if this was just a momentary glitch.

A wonderful police procedural.......2006-02-06

The Villa of Mysteries, Hewson's second volume in the series, is one of the best police procedurals that I have read in a while. It's one of the few books I've read that managed to take me by surprise at the end.

The story starts with the discovery of a body of a young girl in a Roman mud bog. The body is not, as first assumed, an ancient relic, but a more modern victim. This leads the protagonists (Leo Falcone and the rest of the team) to rather frightening discoveries, which I can't share for fear of spoiling the story for the reader.

The author paints a sensitive and fascinating picture of the protagonists and, while not quite believable, the story is certainly compelling. Although the story is about Rome, I didn't find it very Roman. It doesn't have that much of a local feel (it's not Donna Leon with her fine attention to local detail). However, it's such a good read, you won't mind.

Average customer rating:

Charming but not engaging
Von Igelfeld and the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
Feeling Depressed?
Inspired Wildness
I loved it!

At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
Alexander McCall Smith
Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1419316966

Customer Reviews:

Charming but not engaging.......2007-10-10

Fun, simple read but not enough to make me want to read more of this series. I was never really sure what the point was and yes there is some satire to be found, but maybe just too subtle for my taste.

Von Igelfeld and the Villa of Reduced Circumstances.......2007-05-13

I LOVE McCall Smith's books. Read the entire Ladies' Detective Agency series. This third part of Dr. Dr. Moritz Maria von Igelfeld is the least engaging of the three. Having lived in Germany, I was interested in Von Igelfeld's cultural approach to life. His thinking is funny, and I DO like McCall-Smith's humor and insight. However, as he travels around, at one point becoming the President of Columbia, doesn't bring forth McCall-Smith's sense of humor as much. The first two had me hating to put it down, this one I had to get myself to finish it. It does better as an audio book.

Feeling Depressed? .......2007-05-07

If you need a lift, this book, along with the others in this series will do it. The improbable adventures of Professor Dr. von Igelfeld are wonderfully funny, the books are short, and, yes we can love a pompous stuffed shirt.

Inspired Wildness.......2007-03-16

Hard to describe this other than as hilariously and totally out-of-control in the most charming and literate way. This is author Alexander Mccall Smith's wild side. If you like farce--this is witty farce, and not to be missed.

I loved it!.......2006-12-22

This is the first Alexander McCall Smith book that I've listened to. The audio version is funny as heck...especially von Igelfeld's toilet difficulties at Cambridge. The narrator has captured the true essence of our German hero! I highly recommend it...I even sent a copy to my dad. He loved it too!

Average customer rating:

Mystery at the Villa Caprice
Elizabeth Hoffman Honness
Manufacturer: Lippincott
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Dreaming in Red: The Women's Dionysian Initiation Chamber in Pompeii

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Dreaming in Red: The Women's Dionysian Initiation Chamber in Pompeii
Linda Fierz-David , and Nor Hall
Manufacturer: Spring Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0882145517

Product Description

The red of Dionysus belongs to women. So dark it is almost black, it calls up old wine, deep wounds, and the marbled walls of the womb itself heavy with twisted veins reaching inevitably toward the heart. At the heart of the Mystery chamber that anchors these pages in Pompeii there is an unabashed love of women . . . Wreathed in red and weighted by soulfulness, she is an image of the Roman Mater Matuta mother of maturation assessing the ripeness of a process eloquently described in Linda Fierz's analysis of feminine ritual activity on the walls of a unique Mediterranean Villa (Nor Hall).

Incl. 5 color plates

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Glaringly average thriller about greed and murder
Past and Present Collide In Riveting Novel
kept me entertained
Not exactly a thriller, but almost
one of the best!

The Secret of the Villa Mimosa
Elizabeth Adler
Manufacturer: Media Books Audio Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Accessories:

Sony WMFX479 Walkman

ASIN: 1578151457

Book Description

Was it an accident...or an attempted murder?

Dr. Phyl Forster watched the TV news, horrified at the sight of the broken body in the ravine. Then she raced to the hospital to see the victim. Miraculously, the girl was alive, but without name or memory. An irresistible challenge to Dr. Phyl, the psychiatrist who had buried her own past....

Detective Franco Mahoney was looking for a killer, without a whisper of a clue. He needed the beautiful psychiatrist to unlock the victim's mind. But he wasn't prepared for the passion Dr. Phyl inspired or the passion that ensued....

Elizabeth Adler's riveting novel of erotic obsession and revenge sweeps from San Francisco to Paris, from the Côte d'Azur to a remote Hawaiian island, tracing a tale of murder and madness with roots in a decadent past....

Customer Reviews:

Glaringly average thriller about greed and murder.......2005-06-09

Elizabeth Adler's "Secret of the Villa Mimosa" tries to combine romance with a thriller, and it works as neither. Dr. Phyl Forster is drawn to a "Jane Doe" who has amnesia. She is named "Bea French" by the doctor, mainly because she could speak French fluently. Then, Phyl tries to restore the woman's memory, while keeping detective Franco Mahoney at bay. We know instantly that these two will become close, as both try to discover who almost killed "Bea." Then, Bea gets a job with a rich French socialite, and start having her memory jogged in France, while Phyl has a chance meeting with Brad Kane, a rich Hawaiian with a terrible secret. The thriller unfolds as the reader is keyed into the connections between the Kane family and Bea, and the reader starts to feel that things would have added up quicker if Bea and Phyl had talked more in the second half of the book.

Past and Present Collide In Riveting Novel.......2004-06-23

From a writer who delivers great novel after great novel, comes one that truly has everything. The suspense and mystery are first-rate as clues to a decades old murder are revealed. An amnesiac searching for her past, two orphans looking for their future, a handsome stranger, a dedicated psychiatrist, and an elderly eccentric are some of the characters you will take to heart. But it is homicide cop Franco Mahoney who is my personal favorite as he combines the best of Irish charm and affability with his innately Italian love of opera and gourmet cuisine.

Set in San Francisco, Paris, and Hawaii, this story follows the key characters as their lives overlap in a well-plotted, page-turning story. Accident victim Bea French finds a true friend in psychiatrist Phyl Forster who has forgotten what a personal life is. Naturally, Franco Mahoney hopes to give her one, until a handsome stranger with an erotic obsession whisks her off to his private island. Can the good guy win the girl? Will ancestors long dead be avenged? Will Bea's memory return, and at what price? Will a cat named Coco and a dog named Poochie save the day? This is one you won't want to put down and one that leaves you wanting more from these characters and this writer.

kept me entertained.......2003-09-24

I enjoyed the book. I don't remember reading any of her books before, so was pleased that it kept me entertained till the end. I would probably give it a three and a half star rating as the story line was a little too coincidental and Cinderella like, but I enjoyed it. Dr. Phil Forster sees on t.v. that an unidentified woman has been found in a ravine. At first they think the woman is dead but she is still barely alive and she is rushed to the hospital. Phyl is drawn to her and soon is treating the young woman who, when she finally comes to, has amnesia. Franco Mahoney, a likeable homicide cop is assigned to the case and he is trying to identify the woman, but is not having much luck. It looks like a homicide attempt. Through the course of the story Bea French (made up name for victim) ends up going to France while working for a rich lady as a companion of sorts. Bea can speak French that much she knows and she remembers a house but doesn't know where it is until by chance she runs across it and discovers another murder years before was committed in that very house. The story keeps your interest til the end. Not a spectacular mystery but still a decent one. I would read more of her books.

Not exactly a thriller, but almost.......2003-08-29

This book definitely is not a thriller, but is a good story that will keep you reading, sometimes it goes out of the main story and the way that Phyl met Brad the first time is one in a million. This is a very easy book to read so you will read it very fast, and as many books, the end is like Cinderella but that doesn't mean that the book or the story aren't good.

one of the best!.......2001-05-25

If you like intricate plots with charming romance and colorful characters, you'll love this book!

Women's Dionysian Initiation: The Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii (Jungian Classics Series ; 11)

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Women's Dionysian Initiation: The Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii (Jungian Classics Series ; 11)
Linda Fierz-David
Manufacturer: Spring Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Analyst and colleague of C.G. Jung, Linda Fierz-David explores what an initiation ceremony in the ancient world for women might have been all about.

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Creepy Roman Rituals
Skip This One
Disjointed, but good.
wonderfully plotted mystery
Slow and Hard to Read

The Villa of Mysteries
David Hewson
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385337728
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Creepy Roman Rituals.......2006-07-09

The story is great - police and mother try to track down a missing daughter. The story behind her being missing is really creepy - an ancient Roman ritual that leaves nothing to the imagination. There are some very good twists in the novel, and some parts that I am still having trouble understanding (drug use toward the end). Overall, it was a good read.

Skip This One.......2005-04-25

Hewson's novel is a waste of good talent. He's clearly capable of more fluid writing and characterization than the jumbled, piecemeal story placed before us.

The story revolves around a cult of Dionysius that engages in sexual epicurianism and drug use. Things went awry at one of the parties years ago; and when the victim's body turns up in a Roman suburbian bog, the police are called in to investigate. The characters are predictable and trite, and the plot never seems to connect at all the appropriate points. The ending is a letdown, and I don't think I'll be following any of the future adventures of Nic Costa, et al.

Disjointed, but good........2005-04-10

Although there's an interesting ensemble cast and the background of ancient and modern Rome, I found the story a bit disjointed, in part because you have Italians written by an Englishman, sounding like Americans. But there is good suspense and several very good twists.

wonderfully plotted mystery.......2005-03-30

As a reader of many, many mysteries, I'm not easily taken
in and caught up by plots any more, but this book is the
exception to the rule. I loved the setting (Rome), the
characters, and most of all the surprises that continued to
catch me off guard. This is my first Hewson mystery, and I
am looking forward to reading "Season of the Dead" very
soon.

Slow and Hard to Read.......2005-03-04

I read the last book with these characters and enjoyed it mostly so I thought I'd give this book a try. What a mistake. The plot was just too out there to follow, the characters are poorly defined (i.e., the all "sound" the same so it's hard to determine who is speaking), and the drug use didn't seem to have any purpose at all. Additionally, the book just didn't seem to flow well when read. Too many thoughts left out perhaps.

Average customer rating:

Sophisticated period piece and darn good read
Not your average mystery
Rather strange little mystery

The Riverside Villas Murder
Kingsley Amis
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0151777209

Customer Reviews:

Sophisticated period piece and darn good read.......2005-06-20

I am surprised that no one has taken the time to review this classic--a great favorite of mine. I am not really an Amis fan, finding most of his novels too cynical and women-hating to bear. The plot of this book centers on an evil woman also, but Amis's sympathetic treatment of the protagonist--a teen age boy, growing up in post-war Britain, makes this book a softer, kinder offering than some of his more celebrated creations.

The story revolves around a cleverly-thought out murder in a dowdy British suburb in the late forties/early fifties. The protagonist, a school-boy of extraordinary sensitivity, but also endowed with a real helping of good sense, gets roped into the cover-up and resolution of the murder. Along the way, he comes into contact with several beautifully drawn out characters. Like other Amis characters, the characters feel terribly real and plausible. Unlike other Amis characters, they arouse sympathy--even unto the villain. Particularly touching is the portrayal of the protagonist's father--a war veteran who struggles to uphold the vestiges of middle-class respectability and who, when push comes to shove, does the honorable thing, despite the dire implications to his self image.

I'll close by mentioning that this book is a period piece. Amis lovingly describes the little details of daily life in Britain of the late forties and early fifties. Highly recommended.

Not your average mystery.......2004-05-15

I find it truly refreshing that once in a while one can come across a book that is odd and strangely good at the same time. I thorougly enjoyed reading The Riverside Villas Murder and was engrossed the whole time. I highly recommend it.

Rather strange little mystery.......2000-02-03

The Riverside Villas Murder contains a boy detective in the typical tradition-- sort of. We've read the kind of book before where a boy is interested in a woman and his youthful curiosity gets him involved in a murder that surrounds her. What's strange about this is that the book seems amazingly preoccupied with the boy in question's sex life. Not that I'm a prude, but it's rather jarring and odd to have that sort of thing mixed in with what in other respects is a fairly traditional detective novel.

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At the Villa Rose
A. E. W. Mason
Manufacturer: Audio Book Contractors
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

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ASIN: 1556855907

Product Description

A brilliant detective unravels two mysteries and gruesome murders. Four 90-minute cassettes and one 60.

Download Description

They came to me a little while ago in that cupboard there--Adele and the old woman Jeanne. They made me get up. They told me they were going to take me away. They brought my clothes and dressed me in everything I wore when I came, so that no single trace of me might be left behind. Then they tied me. She tore off her gloves and showed them her lacerated wrists. "I think they meant to kill me--horribly." And she caught her breath and whimpered like a child. Her spirit was broken.

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