Some Bitter Taste [Large Print] [Paperback]

Magdalen Nabb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2003

Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia is a decent policeman who meant to follow up on Signora Sara Hirsch's complaint that an intruder had been in her apartment. But by the time he's dealt with the other cases handed to him at that moment, the signora has been murdered.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of George Simenon's Inspector Maigret will find much to like in Nabb's 12th police procedural (after 2001's Property of Blood) to feature Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia. A native of Sicily taken with the charms of his adopted Florence, Guarnaccia has earned the trust of its residents at all social levels as well as the high regard of his commanding officer, Captain Maestrangelo, at Borgo Ognissanti Headquarters. After an intruder breaks into Sara Hirsch's apartment but steals nothing, the frightened, impoverished spinster goes to the Palazo Pitti Station of the Florence Carabinieri for the marshal's help. When a wealthy English art collector is robbed of some silver brushes, possibly by a member of his palace staff, the two incidents seem unconnected, as does the subsequent murder of an Albanian prostitute. The marshal insists that he isn't a detective, but he shows himself to be a careful observer as he untangles multiple mysteries through insight into the Florentine community. While deferring to his superiors, Guarnaccia puts together the seemingly unrelated parts of a large picture they fail to see. Glimpses of our hero's family and home life, plus his reactions to the oppressive summer heat of the lovingly evoked setting, add to his humanity. The several subplots may tie together somewhat improbably in the end, but Nabb's elegant style and sensitivity to character more than compensate.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Exceedingly tactful and patient, Marshal Guarnaccia of the Florentine police has at last lined up a case against a man accused of importing and exploiting Albanian prostitutes. But he is distracted when a seemingly paranoid old woman who had complained to him about people entering her apartment winds up murdered. Though not strictly a detective, the marshal begins to reconstruct the life of the victim, an early refugee from the Nazis. Sedate, comforting prose belies the inner resolve of the marshal and the surprising plot twists he uncovers. The British-born, Florence-based Nabb is a best-selling author in Europe (Soho is releasing paperbacks of two older titles in the series), and her lastest is strongly recommended for readers who like sophisticated, literate mysteries in foreign settings.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 301 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (August 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786254181
• ISBN-13: 978-0786254187
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,537,091 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Marshall Guarnaccia literate mysteries are a joy, May 3, 2006

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A. Anderson "Book Person" (Chico, Califiornia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Bitter Taste (Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation) (Paperback)

I recommend that readers with the same goals as lvkleydorff (see review below) follow his advice and avoid the literate, beautifully written complexities of Ms. Nabb's Marshall in her all too brief series. Our hero plods, rather than walks, understands rather than articulates, and is convinced that he is barely useful to his superiors. He is actually does the detecting, while others are managing the procedural pieces. The plots are well constructed and unfold in a series of gifts to the reader. The Marshall understands the morality that guides the characters, and suggests that character is more of a guide to action than shallower motives. In the Marshall's efforts to understand what he sees, the reader is drawn into the same comtemplations that this middle aged, overweight sensitive and kind man without exposition by the author or exploratory peeks into the Marshall's thoughts. That's writing that is magic. In Some Bitter Taste, each of the victims would have been far happier and avoided their fate had they not lived by the rules laid for them in childhood. The unmentioned lesson seems to be that the current presence of the long past is inescapable, which seems a fact in real life for Florence (the setting) or any country with a long and remembered history. The Marshal, with his solid presence and blinded by the sun (light makes his eyes water), takes in the shadows to discover the true crimes. The atmosphere, point of view and necessary time to have the reader join the world Nabb develops so well is not for readers of thrillers and people who want only a plot to unravel. If you love true mystery, really good books and lovely writing, as well as utterly unconventional heroes, read these books.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death in Florence, October 4, 2005

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egreetham (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Some Bitter Taste (Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation) (Paperback)

The question of how responsible we are for the fates of others occupies the center of this Marshall Guarnaccia tale, set in Florence. When Sara Hirsch comes to the marshall in a state of terrible fear and anxiety because someone has been entering her apartment in her absence, he promises to come to see her. He is prevented from doing so as promptly as he would have liked; the scene in which he finally approaches her building is a masterly rendering of the experience of precognition. Needless to say, he finds her dead. His search for the reason for her death is gradually woven into the resolution of other situations in his territory, including a theft at the palatial home of a wealthy English art collector and the fate of a beautiful, young, and pregnant Albanian prostitute. The Marshal is a very humane man, and very good at his job. It is a pleasure to spend time with him.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars solid Italian police procedural, September 24, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Bitter Taste (Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation) (Paperback)

Once he handles a couple of other more pressing police matters, Florence Marshall Salvatore Guarnaccia will deal with Signora Sara Hirsch's complaint that someone had entered her apartment. So he goes ahead and deals with an illegal abused, underage Albanian prostitute and a minor robbery at the Villa L'Uliveto. When he arrives at Sara's abode, he regrets his assumption that the breaking and entering was a minor matter for he finds her dead.

Feeling guilty, he makes inquiries into the deceased. He learns she was impoverished, but expects to make fortune when a Monet that the Nazis stole from her family was soon to be returned to her. Allegedly a half-brother possesses the art treasure. However, before he can track down the missing masterpiece, Guarnaccia learns that someone also killed Sir Christopher, whose villa robbery made Salvatore arrive too late to help Sara. As he keeps digging, he finds a link between the two deaths, but so far unable to determine who wanted both dead.

The Guarnaccia police procedurals are some of the sub-genre's best. Readers get a taste of Italian law enforcement through the methodical Guarnaccia, a tremendous lead protagonist. SOME BTTER TASTE is a strong entry as the cleverly deigned who-done-it is more personnel than usual for the quiet hero. Anyone who reads this novel or any of Magdalen Nabb's works will go away with a sweet taste desiring more novels by a superb mystery author.

Harriet Klausner