The Bastards of Pizzofalcone

February 1, 2016
In de Giovanni’s engrossing sequel to 2013’s The Crocodile, a band of miscreant detectives with blemishes on their records are transferred from various Naples precincts to the city’s Pizzofalcone region, to replace four corrupt cops. Lt. Giuseppe Lojacono—one of the “Bastards of Pizzofalcone,” as the locals come to call the newcomers—was falsely accused of passing information to the Mafia because colleagues were jealous of the notoriety he achieved for solving the murder of four children in The Crocodile. When Cecilia De Santis, a philanthropist and a nursery school volunteer, is found bludgeoned to death in her apartment with a snow globe from her collection, the rogue detectives led by Lojacono have a chance to redeem the reputation of themselves and the precinct. Despite the lack of clues at the crime scene, Lojacono develops a number of possible suspects. Colorful, fully drawn characters and several intriguing subplots help propel the plot to a satisfying resolution.

February 15, 2016
Sent off to help rebuild a shattered police precinct, Lt. Giuseppe Lojacono finds a surprising degree of cohesion with the other misfits who share the station. Even in Naples, some crimes are too bold to wink at, and when four police officers in the Pizzofalcone precinct report only half a rich drug haul and set up shop to sell the rest of it themselves, they're booted off the force and replaced with four cops whose bosses particularly want to get rid of them. The lucky candidates are Officer Alessandra Di Nardo, a lesbian who likes guns so much she accidentally fired at a colleague at work; Cpl. Marco Aragona, a nepotistic hire who drives like a maniac when he's not relaxing in a tanning bed; Warrant Officer Francesco Romano, who's equally ready to get violent with suspects and his wife; and Lojacono himself, who's been persona non grata ever since his striking debut (The Crocodile, 2013). Not even genial Commissario Luigi Palma expects the quartet to make beautiful music together, but their peccadilloes miraculously complement rather than reinforce each other. And a good thing too, because their first case is no joke: the murder of wealthy, much-loved Cecilia De Santis, bashed to death by one of the dozens of souvenir glass globes she collected. Her philandering husband, notary Arturo Festa, is the obvious suspect, but he was disporting himself in Sorrento with his current inamorata, sexy accountant Iolanda Russo. When the victim's missing silver, which provides an alternative motive, is discovered in a nearby dumpster, Lojacono and his new mates know they're in for the long haul. The wide-ranging investigation will bring them up against an apparent case of sexual slavery and a rash of suicides, but de Giovanni (The Bottom of Your Heart, 2015, etc.) provides satisfyingly logical answers to every riddle. Despite the Neapolitan setting, the crew of mismatched cops may remind you of similar teams in Sweden, New York, or Hollywood. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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Starred review from March 1, 2016
Taciturn Sicilian police detective Giuseppe Lojacono (The Crocodile, 2013) isn't yet comfortable in Naples, but he's no longer miserable. He has reestablished his relationship with his formerly estranged teenage daughter, Marinella. He also has a new assignment, courtesy of detectives in Pizzofalcone precinct who only told superiors about half of the drugs they intercepted. The rest they began to sell. Historic Pizzofalcone is the wealthiest area in Naples, and police brass decided to re-staff rather than shutter the precinctand commisarios in other precincts were only too happy to offload their deadwood, or, in Lojacono's case, a detective who makes his superior uncomfortable. Pizzofalcone's new commisario is Gigi Palma, a rising police star, and he assumes the calculated risk of melding the misfits into an effective team. Soon enough, Lojacono and his partner, Aragona, who appears to have carefully studied the mannerisms of American film and TV cops, are investigating the brutal murder of a woman from a fabulously wealthy Naples family who is famous for her vast collection of snow globes. As in The Crocodile, de Giovanni again offers a cast of engaging and complex human beings, and his digressions from crime into their minds and hearts make this one utterly compelling.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)