Everyone in Their Place

This is the third title featuring Italian detective Ricciardi, whose talents include paranormal insights into the final moments of murder victims. The series, set in Naples in the early 1930s, will resonate with those who love complicated thrillers. Grover Gardner's narration is easy on the ear. His voice takes listeners through the winding streets of the Italian city and the many turns in this plot. He sets a steady pace, retelling the details of gruesome crimes in a matter-of-fact tone that allows listeners to focus on the story rather than the violence. Gardner's performance is reminiscent of the voices used in radio shows of this era. M.R. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Starred review from September 22, 2014
De Giovanni's second novel featuring Naples Police Commisario Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi (after 2012's I Will Have Vengeance) combines a rare setting for a whodunit, Fascist Italy, with a classic fair play puzzle and a highly unusual lead. After a lyrical and tantalizing opening ("The angel of death made its way through the festa, and nobody noticed"), Ricciardi is introducedâa diligent investigator who keeps to himself, and who, in a startling early reveal, sees the ghosts of murder victims. He's given a fresh crime to solve after Duchess Adriana Musso di Camparino is found in her apartment with a bullet hole in the center of her forehead. The obvious suspect is her not-so-secret lover, Mario Capece, a prominent newspaper editor, whose position in society makes the inquiry a sensitive one. As intriguing as the mystery is, the book's strongest appeal is in its convincing portrayal of life under Mussolini, which included government directives to demobilize crime reporters and bar reporting of stories that could have "an unhealthy effect on the spirits of the mentally weak."