I've written in the past about the series of themed detective novels set in Florence I've enjoyed reading whilst on holiday in Italy. On Christmas Eve in Rome I was wandering round a bookshop in one of the gallerias on the Via del Corso and came across a another title in the series by the acclaimed author Michele Giuttari - 'The Black Rose of Florence'. I was pleased it was available in English, though it would have been better to take the challenge of reading it in Italian. On the other hand that would have made for a very slow read and there is little doubt I would have still been reading it next Christmas! As with the others I'd read by this ex Florence police chief turned author, it proved to be another page turner and this time the occult theme was both edgy and fascinating and the author exploited it effectively via a tight narrative set in the heart of Florence and the hills surrounding it. I hardly put it down until I'd finished it and it was perfect light reading for the quiet days between Christmas and New Year. I've just discovered that Giuttari has published a new novel entitled 'Death Under a Tuscan Sun' (Little Brown - £14.99) so its now top of my non-fiction list and it will no doubt be my book of choice for our Easter break in Umbria.
What makes Giuttari's books so interesting is the inspiration he draws from his personal experience as a police officer in a career which lasted over thirty years; he finally retired from the Italian force in 2010 and he now lives with his German wife in her home country in the middle of a forest which he says is good for his writing!
A Sicilian by birth Giuttari joined the Italian police force in 1978 and went on to work in Calabria, Naples and more recently Florence. His posting to the regional capital of Tuscany came about as a result of the 1993 city centre car bombing there which killed 6 people, injured 26 and destroyed a number of paintings in the Uffizi art gallery - an act which was part of a series of bombings in Italian cities instigated by the Mafia as a result of newly introduced tough prison conditions for convicted Mafiosi. He went on to work on a number of high profile cases including the notorious "Monster of Florence" case which had involved the mysterious death of eight couples in the Tuscan countryside round the city between 1968 and 1985 - all of them shot with the same Beretta pistol and the women's bodies mutilated. Giuttari's re-opening of the case in the mid 90's and which investigated the murders as the work of a group of killers rather than of a single murderer, led to arrests additional to the man serving a prison sentence for the killings. This led to much publicity at the time, but the case was never fully resolved and that has remained the situation up to this day causing Giuttari much frustration and leading him to make comments about case blocking by "powerful untouchables" with vested interests, remarks which have cost him dearly at a career level and personally in recent years.
When interviewed by Giulia Rhodes, a Daily Express journalist, for an an article which appeared in the paper at the beginning of March, Giuttari admitted that his fictional detective who appears in all his novels, Chief Michele Ferrara, is him. He told the journalist that they have become closer and closer as time has gone by, until in the latest book their characters overlap entirely, commenting "He develops investigations in the way I did. It is a real method and one which makes the policeman the real driver of the case. Man must be at the centre of the investigative work not science, with his professional experience and his intuitions. Though forensic input is important we must continue to rely on the classic tested methods of gathering evidence and respect the timescales of an investigation" - he told the journalist.
.jpg)
In the series of novels Chief Ferrara comes across as something of a likeable loner, but as a leader respected by his staff and a man loved by his wife and close friends. He is determined, thorough, curious and zealot-like in his quest for justice and he brings all these qualities to bear in the myriad of cases he investigates in the books, which involve theft, drugs, blackmail, extortion, prostitution, murder and every other vice and crime you can think of - and mostly set in the captivating city of Florence and the Tuscan countryside round it. It's all a far cry from the idyllic Elizabeth Mayes view of Tuscany however, so be prepared for the horrors associated with the darker side of Italy and contemporary human life in it. The latest novel evidently revolves round the escape of a desperate serial killer from prison and the murder of a number of women which follow in a hot Florentine summer. The reviews are good so I'm looking forward to a good read soon! Enjoy.
KBO - Ian
 |
| Michele Giuttari |
A Sicilian by birth Giuttari joined the Italian police force in 1978 and went on to work in Calabria, Naples and more recently Florence. His posting to the regional capital of Tuscany came about as a result of the 1993 city centre car bombing there which killed 6 people, injured 26 and destroyed a number of paintings in the Uffizi art gallery - an act which was part of a series of bombings in Italian cities instigated by the Mafia as a result of newly introduced tough prison conditions for convicted Mafiosi. He went on to work on a number of high profile cases including the notorious "Monster of Florence" case which had involved the mysterious death of eight couples in the Tuscan countryside round the city between 1968 and 1985 - all of them shot with the same Beretta pistol and the women's bodies mutilated. Giuttari's re-opening of the case in the mid 90's and which investigated the murders as the work of a group of killers rather than of a single murderer, led to arrests additional to the man serving a prison sentence for the killings. This led to much publicity at the time, but the case was never fully resolved and that has remained the situation up to this day causing Giuttari much frustration and leading him to make comments about case blocking by "powerful untouchables" with vested interests, remarks which have cost him dearly at a career level and personally in recent years.
When interviewed by Giulia Rhodes, a Daily Express journalist, for an an article which appeared in the paper at the beginning of March, Giuttari admitted that his fictional detective who appears in all his novels, Chief Michele Ferrara, is him. He told the journalist that they have become closer and closer as time has gone by, until in the latest book their characters overlap entirely, commenting "He develops investigations in the way I did. It is a real method and one which makes the policeman the real driver of the case. Man must be at the centre of the investigative work not science, with his professional experience and his intuitions. Though forensic input is important we must continue to rely on the classic tested methods of gathering evidence and respect the timescales of an investigation" - he told the journalist.
In the series of novels Chief Ferrara comes across as something of a likeable loner, but as a leader respected by his staff and a man loved by his wife and close friends. He is determined, thorough, curious and zealot-like in his quest for justice and he brings all these qualities to bear in the myriad of cases he investigates in the books, which involve theft, drugs, blackmail, extortion, prostitution, murder and every other vice and crime you can think of - and mostly set in the captivating city of Florence and the Tuscan countryside round it. It's all a far cry from the idyllic Elizabeth Mayes view of Tuscany however, so be prepared for the horrors associated with the darker side of Italy and contemporary human life in it. The latest novel evidently revolves round the escape of a desperate serial killer from prison and the murder of a number of women which follow in a hot Florentine summer. The reviews are good so I'm looking forward to a good read soon! Enjoy.
KBO - Ian
No comments:
Post a Comment