Customer Reviews

Carte Blanche (De Luca Trilogy 1)

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It is April, 1945. Mussolini's regime is in its death throes, clinging to power in the north of Italy. Chaos and anarchy is rapidly replacing repression and order as the predominant feature of Italian life. Yet there is still some semblance of law and order so when a prominent and quite unsavory member of Mussolini's Republican Party is murdered, the police are called to the scene to investigate the crime. The crime is deemed sufficiently important for the police to be granted `carte blanche', to take any means necessary to solve the murder. Commisario De Luca is assigned to lead the investigation and his investigation is the heart of Carlo Lucarelli's enjoyable short novel "Carte Blanche".

"Carte Blanche", the first volume in what is known as the De Luca Trilogy, is rich in storytelling and atmosphere. As drawn by Lucarelli, De Luca is an interesting character. He is neither a hero nor an antihero. He seems to want to be nothing more than to be a detective yet as the story opens he has just transferred back to the regular police force after a stint with the secret police. He'd left because he didn't like that sort of work and seems quite willing to point out that no, he'd never tortured anyone. He is savvy enough to know that an investigation like this is one with political undercurrents that could put him in danger but his compulsion to gather facts and put together the pieces of a puzzle outweighs his sense of caution. As a result we see a story where De Luca persists in pursuing an investigation even when all his instincts tell him he is walking through a minefield.

The strength of "Carte Blanche" lies primarily in Lucarelli's ability to create an atmosphere of Italy on the edge of chaos. I got a real sense of time and place while reading "Carte Blanche". Apart from De Luca, Lucarelli does not invest a lot of time in presenting us with a full-blown character analysis of the key parties to the crime and its aftermath. We also don't get a lot of the internal life of De Luca but De Luca's actions tend to speak for themselves and over the course of the book I got a nice feel for his personality without having had Lucarelli spell it out for me.

At the story's end we see the threads of the investigation pulled together while the threads holding together the reigns of government come fully undone. The resolution is not so much a conclusion as it is a signal that De Luca and Italy are in for some very interesting times in the months and years to come. "Carte Blanche" was a very satisfying first volume to the De Luca Trilogy. Volume Two The Damned Season (De Luca Trilogy 2) has been republished recently and the third and final volume (Via delle Oche) is, apparently, due out soon. I've read and enjoyed Volume Two and look forward to the conclusion. Recommended. L. Fleisig

American and British forces invaded Sicily in 1943 and Il Duce was voted out of power by his own Grand Council. He was arrested by the police upon leaving a meeting with King Vittorio Emanuele, who told him that the war was lost. The dictator's 20 year regime was thus officially terminated. Aided by the Germans, Mussolini escaped and was immediately taken to Germany for an audience with Hitler. There, the Fuehrer told him that unless he agreed to return home and form a new fascist state in Northern Italy, the Germans would destroy Milan, Genoa and Turin. Mussolini agreed to set up a new regime, the Italian Social Republic, which would be propped up by the German army.

"Carte Blanche" is set in Northern Italy, April, 1945. WWII is about to end and the Allied forces are closing in on Milan. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, as well as hundreds of Fascist Party members and government officials, are frantically attempting to flee Italy to Switzerland.

The country's entire power structure is collapsing. The author reflects this tumultuous period in his writing, "There is, above all enormous moral and political confusion that mixes together the desperation of those who know they are losing, the opportunism of those ready to change sides, the guilelessness of those who haven't understood anything, and even the desire for revenge in those who are about to arrive."

Commissario De Luca has just transferred from the "Brigate Nere," the Black Brigade, to the Questura, the regular police force. The Black Brigade, the Political Police, is one of the many paramilitary and police groups operating in the Italian Social Republic. De Luca is an extremely competent policeman and investigator who considers himself to be apolitical. He never participated in any of the brutal behavior the Brigate is known for. "You don't ask a policeman to make political choices, you ask him to do his job well." Only a few days into his new job, he is assigned to investigate a brutal murder.

Twenty-four year-old Rehinard Vittorio, a wealthy Italian citizen and member of the Fascist Republican Party since 1944, is found dead in his apartment, stabbed through the heart and groin. Vittorio's party membership was sponsored by Count Alberto Maria Tedesco, a member of the Republic's diplomatic corps. In other words, the victim was very well connected. Primary witnesses to the events surrounding the murder are the maid, and the porter, who called in the crime. Both are missing. The porter's wife, however, is present and willingly informs De Luca that Rehinard Vittorio received a constant stream of women visitors. On the morning of his death, two women were seen leaving his apartment at different times, a pretty blond, "but crazy as a loon," and a brunette with glasses. Unfortunately, in a political sense, the blond turns out to be Count Tedesco's daughter. The brunette is the wife of Tedesco's primary political rival. De Luca teams up with another cop, Maresciallo Pugliese, to solve the case and finds that the two are on the same wavelength. They work well together and there is real humor in their sardonic banter.

De Luca assumes that, given the powerful status of his potential suspects, his superiors will instruct him to go easy on the investigation, or at least to treat the people involved with much discretion to avoid upsetting them. Commissario De Luca is surprisingly wrong on this one. The Questura Chief, and the Party Secretary, Federale Vitale, inform the detective that, "It is Il Duce's express will, and ours, too, obviously, that police carry out their duties without impediments, for those matters within their jurisdiction. Why, the police must arrest thieves and murderers so that the Italian people know that in fascist Italy, even in difficult times, the law is always the law!" (Hah!!). Thus he is urged to conclude the case and deal with the powerful just as he would the common folks. He is frequently thwarted from doing his job, however, by others not involved in official crime solving. He is almost killed in one mysterious attempt on his life.

This is not only a most unusual and well written crime novel, but it also accurately portrays the historic period in Italy during the final days of WWII. The author has done extensive research and in his preface he tells about a policeman he met who actually spent forty years in the Italian police, from 1941 - 1981. This is the person who inspired "Carte Blanche" and the two other novels which follow it. One of the major points of tension in the novel, is that protagonist De Luca discovers that he, as a former member of the Black Brigade, is on the partisan's death list.

I not only enjoyed "Carte Blanche" but liked the character of Commissario De Luca. Valeria Suvich, a beautiful fortune teller, finds De Luca to be, a "person who hides." "You're the kind that's always thinking about work, you even dream about it at night," (the two had just slept together, so she knows), "the kind who's always busy, always on the run, never stopping." She tells him that few people really know who they are and what they're doing, which is why he firmly holds on to his role as a policeman. This way he doesn't have to think about the frontline, which is getting closer every day, or about food rations, or about being arrested by the partisans. The detective is a complex man, with obvious personal baggage. He has insomnia and doesn't eat very much. But there is something honest and real and compelling about him.

As I mentioned above, Carlo Lucarelli's "Carte Blanche" is the first volume in a trilogy. Following it are book 2, "The Damned Season," and book 3, "Via Delle Oche." "Carte Blanche" is quite short at 108 pages...but it really packs a punch!! Highly recommended.
Jana Perskie

The Damned Season (De Luca Trilogy 2)
Via delle Oche (De Luca Trilogy, Book 3)

Within the crime genre, I find that there's something inherently interesting in stories about policemen or detectives working within nasty regimes. There's Philip Kerr's excellent "Berlin Noir" trilogy starring P.I. Bernie Gunther, partially set in Nazi Germany. There's J. Robert Janes series featuring a French detective teamed up with a Gestapo agent in Vichy France during WWII. There's Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series, whose early books such as "Gorky Park" show the life of a Soviet cop in Moscow. And in the early '90s, Carlo Lucarelli wrote a trilogy set in the waning days of Fascist Italy, starring Commisario De Luca. In his introduction to this long-overdue translation, Lucarelli explains how an encounter with a retired policeman opened his eyes to an era when loyalties shifted with the wind, and factionalism reigned -- even among the police.

The story takes place circa April 1945 in Milan, where De Luca has just been switched from one of the political police units to the civil police as the German-allied civil administration is on the brink of collapse. It opens with the discovery of the body of a wealthy Italian/German fascist of murky occupation and many connections. Things get quickly complicated, as the fascist was also quite the lothario, and De Luca's capable team has its work cut out trying to establish just who might have been in the victim's apartment around the time of the murder. Further complications come from the general atmosphere, as partisans are loose in the city getting a head start on evening the score with those working for the Il Duce's regime.

Despite being very short -- really novella length -- the plot gets slightly overwhelming at times due to its complexity and the rapid pace. However readers who aren't distracted by all the smoke and mirrors will likely note the existence of a fairly substantial clue and obvious suspect. The tone and mood are pure noir stuff, as De Luca lurches around in an insomniac haze watching his back for a partisan bullet. My one major qualm with the book would be its length, it only takes about 90 minutes to read and one wishes that the publisher had proceeded with translating the entire trilogy and releasing it in a single volume rather than making us wait to see how (or if) De Luca survives the chaos.

Carte Blanche is the first novel of a trilogy set in Northern Italy at the end of the Fascist era. Commisario De Luca, the hero of the trilogy, has recently transferred from the political police to the regular police, but politics continues to intrude on his investigation of the murder of a well-connected but shadowy Fascist, and De Luca becomes involved with a fortune-teller, the underworld, the falling government, and the pursuing partisans. There are echoes of The Conformist, but Lucarelli's sleep-deprived cop is more self aware than Moravia's Fascist agent, and the novel refers more to classic noir fiction than to Moravia. Carte Blanche is, in spite of its complicated plot, very short and moves very fast. Not having seen them, I'm guessing that the 2 sequels will round out the story, and that the trilogy is in effect a novel in three sections--but the vagaries of the publication of novels in translation don't allow us to see the whole story yet. What we do have in English now, thanks to Europa Editions, is a fascinating glimpse into one of Italy's most troubled eras, and into a character whose origins is suggested in Lucarelli's fascinating introduction.

Carlo Lucarelli starts off his De Luca trilogy rather weakly, I am afraid, with the meandering CARTE BLANCHE. Apparently quite successful in his native Italy, I must assume it was a hit because of the period in which it was set, with Italian fascism playing a supporting role, rather than the actual mystery or storytelling itself.

The book opens with a stiff. He was apparently some big wig and Commissario De Luca is assigned to figure out whodunit. De Luca fashions himself as just a cop trying to do his job straight. But in a totalitarian society, politics is always there and will be injected into every situation whether it should be or not and whether it is welcome or not. De Luca has some tough choices to make as a result.

The book moves briskly and focuses on the action. The lack of deep characterization did not bother me. This is noir, after all. These people should not have depth. But Lucarelli throws so many characters into the mix in such a short period of time that, even at a meager 100+ pages, CARTE BLANCHE required a score card to keep everyone straight. Developing the actual action a bit more would have gone a long way. I see that, of the three books in the trilogy, this one has the lowest collective rating on amazon. Maybe I will not give up on this series yet, but I do hope the next one is better.

Carlo Lucarelli's Commissario De Luca shares a common characteristic with many fictional detectives (and, many real ones): a belief in order and justice as primary
social virtues. The corollary for these men, and women, is that politics comes second to order and justice.

As De Luca will discover, that isn't necessarily so. As the fascist government begins to crumble in the last weeks of World War Two, "Carte Blanche" literally opens with a bang. The "bang" sets the stage for the explosive investigation that De Luca begins.

The slain man is Rehinard Vittorio, a handsome young Italian fascist of means. His sexual adventures, involving both women, and men, as well as his role as a drug dealer to the well-to-do, leave De Luca with a list of prominent suspects. The authorities want the case solved quickly and try to steer the Commissario towards a "preferred" suspect and conclusion.

However, even as the body count rises; even as his own life becomes endangered, De Luca's quest for order, and justice, leads him to a surprising resolution. As he ponders the high cost of this resolution, the story that began with an explosion ends with the disintegration of the Italian fascist state.

The future, including De Luca's ( he was, after all a member of the "political police")seems very uncertain. As a new order emerges, what price will De Luca pay for his role in the old?

First Line: The bomb exploded suddenly, with a ferocious blast, right as the funeral procession was crossing the street.

In the final year of World War II, as Mussolini's Italy is shattering to pieces, Commissario De Luca finds himself in charge of a murder investigation. The body of well-connected Fascist Rehinard Vittorio has been found stabbed to death and castrated-- and since he was also a drug dealer and philanderer, there is no lack of suspects in his death. The powers that be have promised De Luca their full cooperation... as long as De Luca arrests the "right" suspect.

The plot of this slender little volume moves at the speed of light and leaves precious little time for characterization. De Luca himself was the most sharply drawn, but even he would have been a bit fuzzy if I hadn't read the preface first.

The character of De Luca is based on an actual person who was a policeman in Italy for forty years-- from World War II to the 1980s. Lucarelli found the man to be fascinating:

"...after having heard that man recount forty years of his life in the Italian political police, during which with every change of government he found himself having to tail, to spy on, and to arrest those who had previously been his bosses, the question came spontaneously to me: 'Excuse me... who do you vote for?'"


The man who inspired the character of De Luca always asserted that he was a policeman; politics simply weren't in his job description. Personally, I think he had to have had one of the most finely tuned senses of self preservation on record.

Although there is much to like in Carte Blanche, I found the problems to outweigh the pleasures. The brevity of the book does not lend itself to characterization or to a true sense of the time and place in which it occurs. The bare bones plot reminds me of my shopping strategy during the holiday season: get in there, get it, and get out. (It also contained few surprises.) It's likely that the book suffers when read by anyone who is not more fluent in Italian political history. The translation suffered occasionally when slang was involved.

That sounds like quite a bit of complaint for such a little book, and perhaps it is. The reason for it? The character of De Luca, the time period in which the book takes place, and Lucarelli's writing style itself all raised my expectations. After my reading experience with this first book in the trilogy I doubt that I will read the others. Of course... your mileage may vary!

First Sentence: The bomb exploded suddenly, with a ferocious blast, right as the funeral procession was crossing the street.

It is April 1945, the final days before the Allies move into Italy. Those in power are desperately trying to find a way to survive the coming days.

In the midst of this, Commissario De Luca has been given "carte blanche" in his investigation of the murder and castration of Rehinard Vittorio, a member of the Fascist Republican Party. With a mix of female suspects, drugs, witchcraft and more bodies, De Luca is a policeman trying to solve a crime.

This was a fast, and absolutely captivating, book. Lucarelli's creation of time and place provided a sense of the confusion and conflicting forces at play during this time when the primary concern was trying to survive.

Into that he brings the character of De Luca who, in spite of insomnia, dyspepsia, and political forces, is dedicated to being a policeman, solving the crime and bringing justice. De Luca's emotions are so well conveyed, as is the danger and frustration. The story is well-plotted and the characters alive.

There is good suspense and surprisingly ironic twist at the end. The mystery is solved, the murderer identified but you are left wanted to know what happens next to Comm. De Luca. Happily, Parts II and III of the trilogy await me.

Here's the premise: decent man in the service of the Fascist police with the allies getting closer and closer each day. Partisans on the roofs and various militias on the streets. The atmosphere takes care of half the job already. Some hints of "Fatherland" and the whole canon of decent men in service of nasty regimes. A very short novel as well, only about a 128 pages. But a decent start and I'd probably read the rest of the trilogy as well.

Author Carlo Lucarelli's "Carte Blanche" is a reminder that even in times of national emergency--Italy at the end of WWII--ordinary life goes on and people go about the day-to-day business of living, behaving well or badly as they would at any other time. This short novella is tightly and very neatly constructed and literally races along to its conclusion. That conclusion leaves the story and reader somewhat suspended, but definitely interested in the next phase of the saga. This is an excellent beginning for a trio of novels about the chaos in Italian society brought about by WWII and the political vacuum that followed. If you aren't particularly interested in history or the geographic setting, it's still a fine mystery story that will keep the best-read of the genre satisfied. It has definitely encouraged this reader to get the two other books in the series.