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This book can best be described as part historical novel and part mystery/thriller. It is set in 1943 when northern Italy was still controlled by Italian Fascists and Germany, whilst southern Italy was falling to the advancing Allies. Wehrmacht Major Martin Bora, recently transferred to Italy from the Russian front, was very badly wounded by partisans shortly after his arrival and is still not fully recovered. He is ordered to investigate the murder of a local Fascist dignitary and, although reluctant to become involved, sees the necessity of carrying out the order simply to keep the local Fascists friendly. He seeks the assistance of the police and forms an uneasy working relationship with Inspector Sandro Guidi who is in the middle of an attempt to recapture an escaped convict. Although the two men work together on both cases, it cannot be said that they do so amicably. They have very little in common, even though both are young men. Bora has served in Poland and Russia and his experiences in the latter have caused him to be at least partly critical of the regime. Clearly very intelligent, he can see how the war is going and it induces in him a despair. This does not prevent him from doing his duty, but it is suggested that, where possible, justice is tempered with mercy. Guidi seems to lack Bora's investigative experience and is too inclined to jump to the wrong conclusion, particularly if it is one he prefers. In spite of his rank, there is a certain immaturity about him and it is not surprising to find him living with his mother and, apparently, achieving little success with women. What is never in doubt, however, is that his heart is in the right place. Both characters are very well drawn, and the tensions between them serve to bring them to life. Certainly they are much more believable than the plot. There is nothing to link the two strands other than the investigators, and the search for the convict seems only to needlessly interrupt the murder inquiry. Even when the convict is eventually captured he is simply taken away and nothing more is heard of him. There are a number of unconvincing false leads before the murderer is finally caught. When it transpires that a dying man left a clue to his murderer in the form of a pun it becomes difficult, if not impossible. to suspend disbelief. Though Ben Pastor was born in Italy, where she has returned, she spent thirty years as a university professor in the United States and she writes in English, though occasionally not quite in as convincing an idiom as might be desirable. She is a winner of the Zaragoza prize for historical fiction. § Arnold Taylor is a retired Examinations Board Officer, amateur writer and even more amateur bridge player.
Reviewed by Arnold Taylor, December 2012
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