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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781569474365
ISBN number: 1569474362
Label: Soho Crime
Manufacturer: Soho Crime
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: October 01, 2006
Publishing house: Soho Crime
Sale Popularity Level: 409647
Studio: Soho Crime
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Product Description:
'Artfully understated. . . . [An] elegant series.'-The New York Times Book Review
'The richest mystery here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit. . . . Nabb is sweetly droll.'-The Washington Post Book World
'[Nabb] writes in graceful, calm prose.'-The Associated Press
'Lovely measured language. . . . Offers such pleasures as great local atmosphere and rich characterizations.'-Publishing houses Weekly
'Lean, elegant prose that surpasses the best of Simenon.'-Kirkus Reviews
'[A] superb series.'-Booklist
'Guarnaccia's Florence is a delightful place to visit.'-Mystery Scene
The body of a woman has been found half-submerged in an ornamental fish pond high up in Florence's Boboli Gardens. At first, the woman cannot be identified; only her skull remains. The marshal must use her clothing and a shoe to trace her.
She turns out to be a young Japanese woman apprenticed to one of Florence's legendary custom shoemakers, crotchety old Peruzzi. Could he have killed his protg? Or did jealousy drive his other apprentice to murder? The neighbors have seen Akiko with a lover-a brilliant young Carabinieri-who has disappeared. Has he fled to avoid arrest?
The marshal must go to Rome to complete his investigation. When he returns to Florence he can identify the killer, but can he bring him to justice?
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Rated by buyers 
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Magdalen Nabb's 13th Marshal Guarnaccia novel THE INNOCENT is the latest episode in her venerable crime series that has been going strong for over two decades. Her two leading characters are her persistent carabinieri NCO, Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia, and her beloved adopted city, Florence.
The story begins with the discovery of a women's body in an out-of-the-way pool in the Boboli Gardens, the expansive park subsequent to the Pitti Palace. This is literally in the good Marshal's back yard since his carabinieri offices and barracks are in a wing of the Pitti Palace. This crime has the usual challenges--identify the victim; determine whether the death was accidental or murder; identify possible motives; look for suspects; and find and arrest the killer.
When you read one of Ms. Nabb's novels, you also embark on a wonderful tour of Florence. She always gives special emphasis to the seasons--this one takes place in springtime, late May-early June. The locale is an artisan's quarter in a tiny piazza without a name. This tiny square was formed at the end of World War II, when the retreating German army bombed all the approaches to the Ponte Vecchio, thus making it unnecessary to destroy the historic bridge. Clues lead Guarnaccia to this artisan's quarter where we get wonderful insights into the plight of these artisans and the sustainability of their crafts in the 21st century. We get to know the shoemaker, the furniture restorer, and the local restaurant owner who caters to the workers instead of the tourists. Their apprentices are no longer the young upwardly mobile Italians, but foreigners from as far away as Japan.
Ms. Nabb is unique in featuring the carabinieri in her books--and not the state police favored by her colleagues like Donna Leon and Michael Dibdin. Unlike Commissario Guido Brunetti or Inspector Aurelio Zen, Marshal Guarnaccia has a close day-to-day relationship with the people in his neighborhood jurisdiction. So when a murder occurs, he has already established a sense of trust with them, and this always helps in the solution of the crime. In this book, we get an insight into Guarnaccia's relationship with the young carabinieri recruits he commands; and his relationship with his two teenage sons. Typically he feels inadequate in both tasks!
This wonderful novel is a social commentary on modern day Italy as well as an entertaining crime story.
Rated by buyers 
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All good things come to pass and unfortunately this proves to be the case with the most recent instalment of the Marshal Guarnaccia series. Whereas previously the series was marked with a classic understated character in the Marshal this new book displays not only a completley different style of writing by the author but also a completley different portrayal of the Marshal. The openng chapter has the Marshal walking through a neighbourhood which he has passed through many times in previous books. However in the present book on his way to have coffee he is greeting not one or two but a myriad of different local characters and the feeling is almost of a tourist advertisment for Florence. In addition in his new style he is overhearing snippets of conversations , there is an allusion to the war in Iraq and he is given to a long reminisence about beong sent for his mothers handbag in his youth . In another section the Marshal remembers an embarassing sexual encounter from his youth. His assistant refers to one victim of an assault being "pasted" . The language setting characters and relationships are all so different from earler books . How could the creator of one of the best characters in police/crime fiction have departed so much from her origins. Please revert to the quiet contemplative almost fumbling Marshal if any furhter books are forthcoming If not let the Marshal rest in peace in Florence
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