Customer Reviews

Death in Autumn

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can't believe the other reviewer read the same book. There is no Florentine atmosphere whatsoever in this book and the Marshal is indistinguishable from his captain and neither has much of a sense of humor. She uses so many Britishisms that the story might as well have taken place in London. I haven't a clue how the caribinieri are organized and the author doesn't enlighten us. I keep confusing the captain with the marshal and vice versa. I usually breeze through mysteries but this one is tough slogging. I was 2/3 of the way through before I even got interested. I had hoped for a series featuring a detective the likes of Camilieri's Montalbano or Leon's Brunetti. They are smart, witty, compassionate and reflect the character and charm of their respective territories (Sicily and Venice). Very disappointed.

While I prefer Donna Leon's Venetian series featuring Commissioner Brunetti, I still enjoyed this intriguing novel set in Florence. Leon's strength is in her characters, while Nabb's seems to be in the day-to-day workings of the Carabinieri. I would compare this (favorably) with Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series - without the humor. I look forward to reading another of Nabb's, specifically "The Marshall at the Villa Torini" - which has been very hard to track down until a new re-publishing of it this month. As for those who didn't like "Death in Autumn", all I can say is there are worse ways of spending a couple of hours.

First Sentence: Dawn still hadn't broken and the river water lapping the sides of the black rubber dinghy was of the same darkness as the sky except for a path of moving light coming from a lamp attached to the dinghy's side.

The body of a middle-aged, woman, wearing only jewelry and a fur coat, is found floating in the river. Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri and Captain Maestrangelo must work together to find the identity of the woman and her killer.

This book is not my favorite of the series. I do wish authors would avoid portents, but that is a particular irritant of mine.

Because both Marshal and the Captain worked the case, I often found myself confused as to who was doing what, when. We get bits and pieces about Marshal, but not really a fully-developed picture. What we do get is intriguing. He is married, has a child, is allergic to sunlight, and a dogged investigator. One thing I did particularly like in this book was seeing his humanity and particular concern for all the young men in this story.

The plot was interesting. It went places that were completely unexpected, particularly the ending, which was very different from the norm.

Nabb's sense of place is not as strong as some authors, but it is there and her love of Italy is apparent from her writing. There is a subtlety to her writing that I do enjoy.

While this may not have been, what I'd consider to be, her best book, I enjoyed it and will continue on with the series.

As an American who grew up in Italy and travels there annually I am drawn to books set in my adopted homeland, and after a positive review of a number of this author's books in the NY Times Book Review I tracked them down and read this one first. As a mystery it's first rate. No argument there. It is short, with little spare prose and a decent page turner. I wasn't likely to put it down before I found out whodunnit. But if it's Florentine atmosphere you are looking for, it's completely absent here. This mystery could have been set anywhere in the world, or any nameless city. And that, to me, is a mystery. Why is there so little of Florence in this book? Why is there so little of Italian police/detective work here? This book never transported me to Florence, let alone Italy. And that is a shame. I have read other police dramas set in NY (Ed McBain), Tokyo and The Netherlands (The Corpse On The Dike) that are filled with all-knowing atmosphere. You won't be disappointed at the mystery in this book, but you may be disappointed at the lack of "Florence" here.

Nabb cannot be beat for descriptions of Florence. The city comes alive as the Marshall quietly and intelligently solves the mystery. What mystery? Read it and see!