A Florentine Death: Michele Ferrara, Book 1 (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

A fictional novel written by a real-life police chief, A Florentine Death would appear to have all the elements for an explosive exposé of Italian society's complex and uneasy mix of religion, crime, politics and cover-ups, but sadly the author, whether through prudence or just lack of literary ability, is unable to make much of it. The writing is amateurish, the dialogue unconvincing - I don't think you can blame the translator in this case - and the tone is horribly self-important throughout. Even more self-regarding is the plot of a serial killer who has hatched an elaborate series of murders of homosexuals which - as the literate riddles he sends to Ferrara indicate - he intends to crown with the death of the Florence Chief of Police himself.

The least you could expect from Giuttari is an insider's knowledge of the reality of crime investigation and the political wrangling that goes on around it, but the workings of the police hierarchy are superficially dealt with (perhaps for fear of upsetting any real people in these positions?), and there is little sense of urgency evident from the authorities as the serial killer works his way through each of the killings he has promised. The characterisation is poor throughout, and even though the Chief of Police Michele Ferrara is clearly based on the author himself - even down to the physical appearance if the photograph on the cover is anything to go by - the main character never really comes to life on the page. Ferrara, we discover, smokes expensive cigars, likes good wine, good food and opera - nothing terribly distinctive or original there. There isn't too much mystery or suspense about the identity of the killer either, since his suspicious behaviour from his first appearance early in the novel marks him out immediately as the chief suspect, particularly since there is no other reason for him to be part of the story.

The impression given by the novel is that Giuttari has read 'Silence of The Lambs' and 'The DaVinci Code' and thought - "Well, I'm an expert and I've had to deal with the real thing - I could do better than that". He can't. Perhaps the novel has more interest in Italy through the fact of it being written by a famous police officer, but there's no reason to expect that this will carry any weight in the UK.

Well, I tried, I really did. I managed to get past the flat and cliché-ridden prose, the unconvincing dialogue, the very ordinary characters, and the fact that the lack of any descriptive talent was doing Florence no favours. Also a friend who managed to finish it had warned me that the lesbian character gets anally raped later on and enjoys it and that there's also some gratuitous Thomas Harris-style stuff, what with the gruesome torture implements and the man-eating wolves. I wasn't enjoying the book hugely but I was persevering. But then on page 107 the cops recover a Velazquez painting and our hero is impressed by how its eyes follow him around the room. I'm sorry but, as has been said before and often, life is too short.

There is little to recommend this novel and it is difficult to understand how it has managed to be published. Poor characterisation, stilted dialogue, an absence of suspense and mystery...need I continue. Having read a reasonably good review of the novel in a national newspaper I can only assume the reviewer had not actually bothered to read the book, relying instead on the marketing blurb. If you're looking for a good conspiracy theory then you may surely find one in the mystery of how this novel ever got published rather than within its covers. I gave up after a hundred or so pages...life's too short!