Customer Reviews

The Mosaic Crimes (A Dante Alighieri Mystery)

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

 

 

I don't know if it was because I read the translated edition of this novel, or if the author and his publishers have a very different idea of what a mystery novel entails, but this was, probably one of the most painful reads I've ever had to do. And no one forced me to read on either! Sheer stubbornness made me read on the bitter end -- I just had to discover if things got any better. Unfortunately, it never did.

In the summer of 1300, the city of Florence is tense with fear that the Guelphs and the Ghibellines are about to clash again in another titanic struggle for power. In the midst of this, Dante Aligieri, poet, scholar and newly appointed prior of Florence, finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The body of a master mosaicist is found, his head covered in quicklime, next to a mosaic he was working on in a church that is being restored. And when Dante discovers that the dead mosaicist, Ambrogio, was part of a secret group of scholars who had all come to Florence to set up a university, and that their funding seemed to be coming from Rome, a suspicious Dante wonders if this group of scholars are in actuality secret spies for Pope Boniface, and if the Pope has sinister plans to control Florence through this college. Why then was Ambrogio murdered? Was there a falling out amongst the scholars that led to this murder? And does this murder affect the future of Florence at all? Determined to solve this murder, Dante begins the business of prying and probing into the affairs of these foreign scholars, in spite of the many apparent dangers that lie before him...

Personally, I didn't find "Mosaic Crimes" to be a very engaging book. Perhaps this was because I was reading a translated edition, and things were not as they would have been in the original. The version I read seemed a bit flaccid and sterile -- the plot meandered all over the place between subplots that dealt with the horrific murders and the threat of fresh hostilities between the Guelphs and the Ghibbetines. Also, for a
novel where so much was going on, and where there was a plethora of suspects and action, "Mosaic Crimes" was just not very suspenseful. Again, this may have had something to do with the prose style. And there was the subplot involving the heirs to the Swabian throne-- a little more background as to how the throne was lost and why the Vatican was hunting down the remaining heir would have been nice. As it was, I spent a lot of time trying to infer things before I brokedown and consulted my bookshelf. However, the biggest problem I had with the book was the author's decision to choose Dante of all people as his chief protagonist. Especially since he'd decided to portray Dante as realistically as possible, warts and all. Dante, in this novel, is an arrogant, small minded, peevish, short tempered and paranoid character, with few redeeming traits and who was just plain unlikable. It is truly difficult to loose yourself in a book when you find the main protagonist to be so annoying that you start rooting for the murderer(s) to get the better of Dante!! However, for me, the most disturbing thing of all was the language used to characterise and deride practically the only female character in the novel, Antilia. A tavern dancer of bewitching beauty and mystery, Antilia both tantalises and repels Dante. So much so that he keeps referring to her in very derogatory terms. Whether or not you decide that this character deserves the "accolades" Dante heaps on her, I can tell you that as a woman, I was quite discomforted by the savagery of language used here.

The history bits are good, as is the period detail and the vividly colourful descriptions of scenes. But the storyline took too long to unfold and the sudden dipping into philosophy was too distracting at times. All in all, "Mosaic Crimes" was a very disappointing 2 star read.

I totally agree with the mystery book reviewer for the Baltimore Sun who wrote "Historical thrillers don't come more high-concept than this: Dante Alighieri, detective. But Leoni, whose novel reached immediate best-seller status in his native Italy when first published there in 2004, opts for a more low-key approach that keeps intrigue perpetually bubbling under the surface instead of broadcasting it in the reader's face every chapter ending or so.....Leoni's narrative style is equal parts crisp and wry, bolstered by his thorough knowledge of medieval Italy and the Commedia. But it's the human portrait of Dante that makes this brand of mystery memorable." Library Journal wrote in their review "Elegantly written and beautifully translated, the language is descriptive without being flowery, smart without being pedantic."

I have lived with The Divine Comedy for more than thirty years, and enjoy a good historical mystery, so when I saw The Mosaic Crimes and read on the back of the book that the sleuth was Dante, I fell for it.

I gave up at 139 pages -- life is too short to read bad books. Halfway through the book, the author has told the reader nothing of importance about any of the characters, including Dante -- except that he is surly and churlish. We know so little about the murdered man that one hardly cares who killed him or why. Normally unraveling the puzzle is the real reward, but here are simply a series of unlikely conjectures leading nowhere. Even the descriptions of Florence at this most interesting time in history lack color or interest. Perhaps this is the fault of the translator, but it's hard to see how a translator could take all the oomph out of a book.

I'm a fan of historical fiction and I thought I would try one with a slant on mystery. I was disappointed with this book because it was too confusing. There were too many characters, too many things going on, too much dialogue about things like astrology. To me, the characters were spouting knowledge of sciences that didn't really do much to propel the story. And in the end, I didn't even understand everything that went on. The ending was nothing to speak of. I also found the way it was written quite tedious to read. I may just be me but I didn't enjoy this book.

For two stars, I will keep this short. This book looks like it would be great. The topic is one that seems full of mystery and intrigue. Yet, the book is quite dull overall. Certainly as a mystery novel this book cannot hold one's attention. What it might be good for, however, is sparking interest in the period more generally or getting one to (re)read Dante's Divine Comedy.

Leoni is a must read for fans of historical mysteries. What did Dante Alighieri do before he wrote his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy? Leoni writes that he solved mysteries in this story of the death of an artist.

Circa 1300, Florence, Italy is a hotbed of political and religious intrigue, the devastating rout of the Christians at St. John of Acre in 1291 still a black memory to the vanquished. Dante Alighieri, Prior of the city, watches over his flock with a suspicious eye, curtailing the excesses of behavior with a nightly curfew that delivers an uneasy peace. It is with some trepidation then, that Dante (the future author of The Divine Comedy) is roused from his bed by soldiers who bring word of a murder at a local building site. Reaching the scene of the crime, Dante discovers the tortured body of a master mosaicist, the artist's work interrupted by the fatal attack. It is Dante's responsibility to determine the nature of the crime and the culprit behind it, meanwhile keeping the city from becoming further inflamed.

To that end, while making enquiries about the dead artist, Dante is welcomed by a diverse group of scholar-philosophers, the Third Heaven, who meet regularly at a local tavern to discuss relevant theological and philosophical theories and perhaps more mysterious subjects related to the Knights Templar and their quest for knowledge of the great secrets of the universe. Dante suspects that these men, as well as a beautiful exotic dancer, Antilia, are protecting whoever is behind the crime. In an intricate game of cat and mouse, Dante scours a labyrinth of potential motives; at the core of all is the carefully guarded secret of one of God's great mysteries.

That he has the power to use the resources of the inquisition is a great temptation to Dante when his new circle of friends is less than forthcoming, but he controls the impulse to resort to torture, working painstakingly toward a resolution of the murder and a discovery of what the artist knew. To further complicate the plot, the political situation is reaching a crisis point. While Dante's faction of choice, the Whites, are currently in control, there are guarded suggestions that he should exercise great care, perhaps leave the city before the party of Pope Boniface VIII, the Blacks, are again in ascendancy and seeking revenge against their enemies. But Dante won't pay attention, on the scent of a great find and unprepared to deviate from his grand design of infinite knowledge. As the bodies fall around him, Dante eliminates suspects, finally face to face with the information for which so many have died.

In the throes of rebuilding after yet another devastating war, Florence is rife with intrigue, cloaked figures lurking in dark passages, streets lined with beggars and mercenaries dressed as beggars and the insatiable curiosity of learned men in search of truth. Too easily distracted by theological debate with the potential suspects, Dante falls victim to his own ego and desire to know the unknowable, ancient documents, secret maps all pointing to what the Knights Templar have died to protect. Too esoteric and lacking in human passion, Dante unfortunately fails to inflame the imagination, caught in the convoluted web of his own mind. Luan Gaines/2007.