The Italian Girl [Hardcover]

The Coronation Day for Great Britain's Elizabeth II was a jubilant occasion for the British after years of war, loss and rationing. It was also a tragic day for the Bonnetti family, when their beautiful 15 year old daughter, Mariella went missing.

Almost 50 years later DCI Thackeray is called upon to both identify the skeletal remains of a young woman found at the excavation site as well as determine if a murder was committed. Delving into the past, Thackeray and Ackroyd discover that the dreadful events of that day so long ago remain a threat to an individual very much alive in the present.

THE ITALIAN GIRL is a great summer read. Although this is the first of the Thackeray and Ackroyd novels I've had the pleasure to read, so far, I had no difficulty getting involved with the characters. This is a deftly written, suspenseful, enjoyable, quasi-police procedural with complicated, well-fleshed out characters, sprinkled with the Yorkshire dialect. "There's nowt two roads" about it, kudos to Patricia Hall!

DCI Michael Thackeray, one of the main characters, is a recovering alcoholic with a sad secret he finally decides to share at the end of the story. His companion Laura Ackroyd, a feature news reporter for a local York paper is a red-headed, zealous, and at times dangerously impulsive young woman, but extremely likeable nevertheless. Laura's charming grandmother Joyce is a fiesty 80-year old who was probably just as reckless in her youth. Heck she's daring in her eighties!! Joyce's life-long causes--decent housing for the less well off, affordable and adequate health care, and safe and well-run nursing facilities are important if not trendy at the moment. If Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan are your role-models, you won't like Joyce!!

GIRL begins with the search for the identity of a skelton excavated at the site of a new housing project. The remains are quickly identified in spite of having been buried six feet under for nearly fifty years, largely owing to the presence of a gold cross found with the corpse (and featured on the book jacket). The remainder of the story involves a search for the killer. The murderer is some one she knew. I did not realize who it was until almost the end of the book because there are several possibilities, and Hall does a good job of laying out the clues and red herrings.

The little gold cross on the front cover is a symbol of many things including some rather interesting insights Hall shares through her characters about Roman Catholocism. As a former RC, I really appreciated her insights, but if you're terribly orthodox, you may not.

One reviewer quoted on the book jacket says Hall's writing is comparable to that of Elizabeth George, but I don't think so for several reasons. George writes extremely long books with a great deal of redundancy. Her plots are hysterical, and at times her characters behave in unbelivable ways. And, George's detectives are aristocrats. Hall's main characters are not aristocrts (think democrat, think liberal, think labor) but ordinary and mostly believeable people, Hall's writing is succinct and realistic. I will definitely read more of Hall's books.

Laura worries about her grandmother's placement in a nursing home after the senior citizen took a fall. She shows no interest in Michael's case. Her editor wants her to interview former matinee idol John Blake. Laura is unaware that these two seemingly innocuous incidents tie into Michael's investigation and leaves her facing danger from a perpetrator who thought they committed the perfect crime on England's last Coronation Day.

Laura and Michael represent the dark side of the human condition, flawed by their respective pasts, which makes them unable to take the next step towards a commitment together. They live for today, but that too is fraught with concerns and anxieties as Michael battles his conscience and Laura worries about her independence. The murder investigation serves as a catalyst that allows them to confront a killer as well as their own selves. THE ITALIAN GIRL is bleak yet compelling novel that shows the darker side of British town life. Patricia Hall shows much talent as she creates a fascinating, atmospheric British police procedural relationship drama for people to enjoy.

Harriet Klausner