A Florentine Death - Michele Giuttari

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 for fear of upsetting any real people in these positions?), and there is little sense of urgency evident from the authorities as the serial killer works his way through each of the killings he has promised. The characterisation is poor throughout, and even though the Chief of Police Michele Ferrara is clearly based on the author himself - even down to the physical appearance if the photograph on the cover is anything to go by – the main character never really comes to life on the page. Ferrara, we discover, smokes expensive cigars, likes good wine, good food and opera - nothing terribly distinctive or original there. There isn’t too much mystery or suspense about the identity of the killer either, since his cold icy gaze and suspicious behaviour mark him out immediately as the chief suspect from his first appearance early in the novel, particularly since there is no other reason for him to be part of the story.

The impression given by the novel is that Giuttari has read The Silence of The Lambs and The DaVinci Code and thought – “Well, I’m an expert and I’ve had to deal with the real thing - I could do better than that”. He can’t. Perhaps the novel has more interest in Italy through the fact of it being written by a famous police officer, but there’s no reason to expect that this will carry any weight in the UK.