This book is different from the others in the series in that it is the first time that it is set in two countries - the USA and Italy. I am not sure how I like that since I was expecting a full-on Italiano police procedural but I suspect because of the subject matter this time, ie the Mafia, it has to encompass both those countries to make it more believable; after all, Mafia organizations have now gone international, spreading its field of operations to countries over and beyond Italy, farther and wider than ever before, due to the onset of globalisation. Fast-paced, quite but not altogether sparse in the details, lots more new characters, Giuttari's knowledge of the region of Calabria and the way of its people and especially his mentions of delectable Italian cuisine, makes for a much enjoyable read in this series.
Paperback blurb: One of the wildest and most beautiful regions in Italy, known for its rugged coastline and mountains, Calabria is also home to the deadly 'Ndrangheta. An organised Mafia crime operation more feared in Italy than the Cosa Nostra or the Camorra, it is shrouded in mystery.
Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara of Italy's elite Anti-Mafia Investigation Department is tasked with investigating the deaths of several Calabrian citizens - some in New York, some in the small, isolated villages that dot the Italian countryside.
To get to the bottom of the case, Ferrara has to infiltrate the village of San Piero d'Aspromonte, deep in the Calabrian mountains. And there he must put his life on the line to learn more about a family at the centre of an ancient, bloody feud . . .
An atmospheric, gripping mystery, A Death in Calabria (2010) has been a bestseller in Italy and across Europe. Written by former Florence police chief Michele Giuttari, it offers a fascinating insight into the hidden world of the 'Ndrangheta, and the beautiful and mysterious region of Calabria. A Death of Calabria is translated from the Italian into the English by Howard Curtis.
The Black Rose of Florence, book 5 of the Michele Ferrara series, will be out on 1 March 2012, available in both hardback and paperback.
Anyone who wants to sieve fact from fiction can read Blood Brotherhoods: the Rise of the Italian Mafias by John Dickie.
Rating: 4/5
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