Darkness Descending

July 22, 2013
A stunning development at a Florence political rally, witnessed by PI-in-training Giuli Sarto, sets the stage for dark-hued suspense in Kent’s fourth Sandro Cellini novel (after 2012’s The Dead Season). Niccolò Rosselli, the head of a party whose members are disillusioned with mainstream politics, is the hope of the disenfranchised, some of whom compare him to Gandhi. In the middle of a speech, Rosselli collapses, shocking his followers. The politician is treated and released from the hospital, but soon after, Cellini, the former cop turned private eye, learns that Rosselli’s long-term partner, Flavia, has disappeared, leaving behind their infant son without explanation or clue as to her whereabouts. Sarto, a particularly memorable character, has overcome great struggles to be in a position to help Cellini as the investigation builds to its tragic end. Kent does a fine job setting a mournful tone for this sad book and in conveying the average person’s frustrations in the face of endemic government corruption. Agent: Nathaniel Jacks, Inkwell Management.

August 15, 2013
A Florentine investigator seeks the reason for the suicide of a politically connected woman. Sandro Cellini's life has settled down since his dismissal from the police force (The Dead Season, 2012). His wife, Luisa, has survived breast cancer, his assistant Giuli has beaten her drug addiction and become a clever helper, and he has enough business to keep him busy. Now a new case comes calling through unexpected channels. Giuli and her computer expert boyfriend, Enzo, are involved with a green political party called Franzione. When party leader Rosselli's partner Flavia kills herself at a seaside hotel, leaving Rosselli with their newborn son and a bitter mother who hated Flavia, Sandro is asked to investigate. Since Italian politics are notoriously rife with corruption and violently diverse views, Sandro wonders whether Flavia's death was politically motivated or if there was a more personal reason for the intelligent 40-year-old beauty to kill herself. All the while, Sandro is depressed by the fact that his former partner Pietro is avoiding him. But then something happens that brings them together again: Pietro's college-age daughter Chiara suddenly moves out of her parents' house to live with a man they've never met and know nothing about. Luisa, Giuli and Pietro's wife, Gloria, quietly try to discover Chiara's whereabouts after Luisa sees her on the street. Little do they know that finding the reason for Flavia's suicide may just lead them to Chiara. Those looking for fast-paced thrills will not find them in this literate, cerebral, decorously paced mystery that nevertheless holds readers' interest to the end.

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