To The Last Page

A fictional novel written by a real-life police chief, A Florentine Death would appear to have all the elements for an explosive exposé of Italian society’s complex and uneasy mix of religion, crime, politics and cover-ups, but sadly the author, whether through prudence or just lack of literary ability, is unable to make much of it. The writing is amateurish, the dialogue unconvincing – I don’t think you can blame the translator in this case - and the tone is horribly self-important throughout. Even more self-regarding is the plot of a serial killer who has hatched an elaborate series of murders of homosexuals which - as the literate riddles he sends to Ferrara indicate - he intends to crown with the death of the Florence Chief of Police himself. The least you could expect from Giuttari is an insider's knowledge of the reality of crime investigation and the political wrangling that goes on around it, but the workings of the police hierarchy are superficially dealt with (perhaps fo