The Drowning River

May 17, 2010
Against a backdrop of the rising waters of the Arno in Florence, a recently disgraced police officer, Sandro Cellini, begins a new career as a PI in this slow-moving mystery from British author Kent (Late Season). While searching for Ronnie Hutton, a missing female art student from England, Sandro meets the insecure but attractive Iris March, Ronnie's roommate, in addition to a clutch of other young art students. Meanwhile, an intriguing older woman comes to Sandro for help in understanding why her husband committed suicide. Predictably, these two cases overlap. While the plot contains the right elements—sinister old-family Italians, evocative settings like the Boboli Gardens, and even a contessa—the story refuses to take wing. The threat of a flooding Arno may strike some as a superimposed device, though by the end it earns its place. Strong points include the gentle portrait of Sandro's marriage and the heartfelt relationship between Sandro and his old police partner, Pietro.

April 15, 2010
A melancholy private investigator tackles two murky murder cases.

Alternating narratives unfold a pair of dark Florentine mysteries. Having recently left the police department under a cloud, not-so-young former detective Sandro Cellini gets his first case after four days of pessimistic waiting. Elderly Lucia Gentileschi still seems baffled by the drowning of her husband Claudio in what police have ruled a suicide but that she believes must have been murder. The empathy Senora Gentileschi triggers in Sandro threatens the objectivity he needs to investigate and discloses unsettling parallels to his own downward spiral with his devoted wife Luisa. Meanwhile, British art student Iris March is tired of covering for frivolous roommate and fellow student Veronica"Ronnie" Hutton, who regularly cuts class and spends many nights sleeping around. But when Ronnie goes missing, Iris finds herself under uncomfortable scrutiny by suddenly solicitous instructors Paolo and Anna Massi and questioned with cool precision by police detective Falco. Iris's guilt and insecurity on the streets of the city thrust her into the arms of American party boy Jackson. Learning that Claudio is a concentration-camp survivor, Sandro finds unusual financial transactions in his bank accounts. Just when the drowning is becoming an obsession, Falco hooks him up with Ronnie's wealthy, demanding mother Serena, naturally distraught about her daughter's disappearance. Could the two mysteries be related?

More psychological thriller than whodunit, Sandro's third (A Time of Mourning, 2009, etc.) moves with a somber and compelling intensity.

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July 1, 2010
On the day that disgraced ex-cop Sandro Cellini opens his office as a PI in Florence, a young art student goes missing, and a man drowns in the River Arno. Cellini, aided by his wife, finds that working in the private sector offers challenges and a reason to live. VERDICTFilling her mystery debut with plenty of action, fast-thinking people, and beautiful Florence, British novelist Kent ("Late Season" keeps the reader guessing how it all fits together. Donna Leon readers will like. [Minotaur First Edition Selection; library marketing campaign.]

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