Customer Reviews

The Villa of Mysteries

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

 

 

David Hewson's second novel in what promises to be a first-rate series of mysteries set in Rome is even better than its predecessor, and that's saying a great deal about how good it is. Consistently entertaining, giving a wonderful feel for its Roman setting without larding it on with a trowel, with a splendid array of plausible and vivid characters, this book deserves the old cliche: "I couldn't put it down." The only flaw, and it's not all that much of a flaw, is that the climax is occasionally unclear, but I can't explain why without giving away a mass of vital plot details, so just read and enjoy.

David Hewson is a fresh voice in the huge genre of mysteries set in places other than America. Villa of Mysteries has an attractive central character in Nic Costa, a young, bright, and thoughtful Questura inspector who does not suffer from the overlay of perfection that so many others of this type are given. Villa takes place in Rome and its immediate environs, and Hewson's settings in the ancient port city of Ostia, where the crimes are perpetrated, are well described and atmospheric. The police subculture, which is complicated in Italy, is also well portrayed. As for plotting, this story offers unforeseen twists and turns every couple of chapters, and is tricky enough to permit an element of genuine surprise to pop up at the end.
I'm now reading the first of this short series, A Season for the Dead, and enjoying that as well.

I love this genre, police procedurals, but have never read this author's work and thought this would be a great one to start on. Instead, I struggled with maintaining any interest in the characters, who I found to be unsympathetic, one-dimensionally drawn and therefore, boring! I also found the storyline to be a tired and very contrived old one. I woun't give you a synopsis; others will do that, I'm sure. I found the protagonist, a police detective, to be duly angst-ridden, but underneath the steely exterior, there is usually some redeeming feature that makes us interested in them and even like them. Moreover, I could not like or even maintain my interest in any of the stereotypical main characters: the detective with a tragic past, his superior, whose problem seemed to be infidelity, the spunky troublemaking, female pathologist and the jaded old cop, smoking like a facory and demoted for having sex with a female prostitute as part of a payoff in a payola scam. If you like this genre, read the masters: Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Robert Wilson, Reginald Hill, James Hime, Kirino's great "Out," a Japanese procedural that is UNBELIEVABLE!, and David Baldacci. I bought 2 of this series and will try the other to see if this was just a momentary glitch.

Well, the reviews are certainly all over the place on this one with ratings from one to five stars. I have complained that Hewson is of two distinct writing personalities - the literary, deep, human author displayed in this series and the bored, uninvolved writer in the godawful "Solstice" series. It's like two different people. Personally, I loved the darn thing (this one) like I have all the "Italian" mysteries. Once I started I could not put it down. Finally I pulled over to a parking lot to read the last two chapters. Yep, I was hooked by the same crew as the Sacret Cut, a superior book in some ways.

The manner in which the relationships among and within these agencies are told is true literary genius - subtle, dark, ironic and frequently thought provoking. The brooding Nic finally returns and is teamed with his former boss who has committed a massive error of judgement. My favorite character of the series, pathologist Theresa Lupo, plays a starring role. But the real star is, surprisingly, the Mafia Dom whose personality, mood and exuberance for life and death comes to dominate the story.

Without giving away too much, the book has a fantastic opening and segues into a familiar tale of an old crime that suddenly rears its head in relation to a current crime. Folks may gripe at the sketchy detail or the lack of "authenticity" (I thought it fine) but it is the literary quality of the book that I most admire - the twisting but always rational plot, the turn of events, the slow change of attitudes, the sudden insights and finally the resolution which is not like a usual crime novel. There are literally hundreds of mystery writers out there, many putting out large print, 250 page "novels" as realistic as snow in the Sahara with subjects so drab that Mr Rogers would shine. There are authors that specialize in the horror of crime, the sadistic or fetish sides, the "serial killer" types, etc. But in the end, it all boils down to human relationships and this is why this book deserves five stars. It depicts our emotions in all their lying, truthful, gritty ways and our attempts not to fool others but in the end, ourselves. My Grade: A

The Villa of Mysteries, Hewson's second volume in the series, is one of the best police procedurals that I have read in a while. It's one of the few books I've read that managed to take me by surprise at the end.

The story starts with the discovery of a body of a young girl in a Roman mud bog. The body is not, as first assumed, an ancient relic, but a more modern victim. This leads the protagonists (Leo Falcone and the rest of the team) to rather frightening discoveries, which I can't share for fear of spoiling the story for the reader.

The author paints a sensitive and fascinating picture of the protagonists and, while not quite believable, the story is certainly compelling. Although the story is about Rome, I didn't find it very Roman. It doesn't have that much of a local feel (it's not Donna Leon with her fine attention to local detail). However, it's such a good read, you won't mind.

An intelligent, well-plotted, Roman police procedural. Hewson's strength lies in his ability to write for readers who want to think, and to develop characters we want to know.

While the "Villa of Boredom" reviewer already said a lot of the same things, much better than I could. The book was slow, the characters were bland, and some were moderately unlikeable. The so called hero seemed to be in the background of most of the book. Personally I found the "crazy" pathologist the truely likeable actual hero of the book, although she also seemed to take a back seat at times. I listened to the audio format, and the narrator's grating female impression also made things worse.

The rite stuff by maybe the wrong author? I was a bit put off by a blizzard of foul language on the first pages. After that it took many pages to warm up to the characters, even a bit. They all have personal links to each other, one of the things unraveled in the plot. But each new link calls for a pace-stopping story about them. Good, bad; they all seem to have histories with each other evoked by the places people go--and not pleasant memories, either. Oddly, I didn't "feel" as if I was in Italy particularly, aside from some untranslated Italian culinary terms dished about.

A kind of "wild and crazy" story, all kinds of things going on, present and past, even a couple of experts on ancient Rome to bring in an ancient mystery cult. The title is a misnomer; there is no villa. The story concludes with a "talking cure," where many twists are revealed, not least that Nic Costa is really wigged out. (I don't like "Poirot" scenes, preferring that an author work solutions into the plot.) For the colossal twist that changes everything to the beginning, just a hint: "manufactured evidence." There are no chapters to speak of, no easy stopping points. It is hard to say whether I shall read any more of this series. It has too many "heroes" and too little focus. The individuals are very quirky and interesting, but their rages go all over the map, left me muddled. Detective Nic Costa seems to be the hero of the series, but he is not someone I am made to care about.

This was an interesting book with many Biblical references. There were times when I felt lost. The story was missing continuity. I did find it rather implausable at times. Some of the character development was sketchy and never did complete itself. I would however, recommend it.

David Hewson is a weekly columnist for the Sunday times. As well as several novels he has also found the time to write a number of travel books. He lives in Kent.

David Hewson's books can, and do have violent undertones, some would say gratuitously so. I personally would disagree, his books are after all thrillers. Death, particularly violent death thrills the human mind. I am sure that if this type of book is not your cup of tea, you will refrain from purchasing the book.

This book first published in 2004, continues the Italian crime series set in the beautiful city of Rome and featuring Detective Nic Costa. When the body of a young woman is found dead in a peat bog the pathologist believes that the body has been there for hundreds of years. She thinks that the young woman is the victim of some ancient Roman ritual. But she couldn't be further from the truth . . .

The author's love of foreign places is evident by the number of travel books he has written and this comes through in the background to his books. Maybe it is my imagination but having them take place in Rome or Venice etc. makes them that much more readable than say London or Manchester.