Grace Brophy

Questore Alessandro Cenni with the state police is assigned to investigate the murder of a German former diplomat who had been living in the village of Paradiso in Umbria. The body of Jarvinia Baudler was horrifically mutilated. The Germans seem more interested in obtaining World War II documents they believed Baudler had in her possession than they seem about catching her murderer. In fact, they want nothing more than for the crime to be wrapped up as quickly as possible. The victim herself was not well liked. The list of suspects who would benefit from her death is long. Cenni's investigation takes him back into the past at a time when Italy was occupied and allied with Germany as well as into the many relationships Baudler had, both with women and men.

While the novel takes place mostly in Umbria, the reader is taken across Italy to Rome and Venice, getting a small taste of the people and culture as well as the country's politics. Although set in the present day, the novel touches on events that took place in Venice during the Second World War. While Italy was an ally to Germany during the war, there were those who resisted. There were also those who sought to bring down the Allied Forces, particularly England. And what better way to strike than at the economy?

Despite pressure from the Germans and his superiors to make an arrest, Cenni is determined to get to the truth no matter the outcome. With help from his colleagues, his brother the bishop and good investigative skills, Cenni just might find what he's looking for.

There is an overreaching story arch in the series involving the kidnapping of a woman Alex Cenni loved twenty years before who had never been seen again. Cenni believes he spots her while in Venice and the main story line takes a slight detour as he attempts to track her down. I found this to be a bit off-putting. It does serve to offer another side to Cenni, however, so in that way worked more fully develop his character.

There are a number of characters, many of them quite eccentric, each with their own dark secrets to bear. The murder victim herself has quite a colorful past, and not one anyone would envy. She was a master at manipulation and uncovering secrets, then using those secrets for personal gain. She had made quite a few enemies over the years, including those in her inner circle.

Alex Cenni is cynical and a maverick. He does not always follow the rules but he just about always solves his cases, even if it means arresting someone of high profile and earning the ire of his superiors. Even as he gets closer to learning who killed Baudler, Cenni begins to question the reasons he went into law enforcement and wonders if it is time to move on. Assisting him on the case is Elena Ottaviani, a friend as well as a colleague. She is firm in her stance for equality between men and women and does not take kindly to stereotypes. She's very capable in her job and deserves a lot of credit for putting up with Alex Cenni's occasional mood swings. She also is not afraid to point out when she believes he is out of line.

Grace Brophy's crime novel, A Deadly Paradise, is the second in a series featuring Alessandro Cenni. It is full of complex and interesting characters. The novel is a carefully crafted mystery that had me guessing for a good portion of the novel. Now to track down the first book in the series and read it!… (altro)

Grace Brophy’s novel The Last Enemy also takes place at this time of year, but in the location of beautiful Assisi in northern Italy. The evening of Good Friday is traditionally spent observing the procession of many local men and some women carrying a cross through the winding ancient streets of the city as they do penance to shorten their way to heaven after death and as a reminder of a momentous Friday 2000 ago.

1 Corinthians 15:26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

While Count Casati and his family watch the procession in a piazza near their home, they wait for a traditional fish dinner and for a little beloved niece, Rita, who has been residing with them since she brought her mother’s body to be buried in Assisi. They wait in vain, because Rita has met her death in the family mausoleum. She is found the following morning resting on a stone altar step and posed in a fashion that suggests she was raped.

Because of the prominence of the family involved, Commissario Alessandro Cenni, the head of the special task force that deals with terrorism and politically sensitive domestic crimes, is assigned to bring about a fast resolution to the case. While he finds that the local police and the powers that be want the blame to settle on either a foreigner or a vagrant, Alex is confident that the killer had to have known the victim well––and that puts the powerful Casati family in the spotlight. But this is Italy, where connections are more powerful than the facts. The story moves at a lively pace and ends with an Italian twist.

Brophy transports the reader to a lovely part of Italy that I hope to be able to see one day. Alex Cenni is an intriguing, complex character who is believable, likeable and a bit of a romantic. I am happy to report that there is more to this series, the latest of which is being released this year.… (altro)