There is more than sees the eye…

Synopsis

Bologna: city of secrets, suspicion . . . and murder

A dark and atmospheric crime thriller set in the beautiful Italian city of Bologna, perfect for fans of Donna Leon, Michael Dibdin and Philip Gwynne Jones.

When the body of a radical protestor is found floating in one of Bologna’s underground canals, it seems that most of the city is ready to blame the usual suspects: the police.

But when private investigator Daniel Leicester, son-in-law to a former chief of police, receives a call from the dead man’s lover, he follows a trail that begins in the 1970s and leads all the way to the rotten heart of the present-day political establishment.

Beneath the beauty of the city, Bologna has a dark underside, and English detective Daniel must unravel a web of secrets, deceit and corruption – before he is caught in it himself.

Tom Benjamin’s gripping debut transports you to the ancient and mysterious Italian city less travelled: Bologna.

My review

Private investigator Daniel Leicester lives with his daughter in Bologna.
One day he receives a call to investigate the death of a leading anarchist. Everybody assumes the police is involved, but the dead man’s lover thinks there is more going on.

Not often Bologna is a setting for a book. But for this book, the location was perfect.
Bologna is a city with a long history. Good history but also a bad one. This of course is for Italy in totally… good things happened, but also nasty ones.

Daniel is a private investigator trying to figure out what truly happened to the victim. Was it truly the police?
As the story evolves, it’s clear that the dark past of the anarchist and his accomplices are part of this murder.
It’s fascinating how Daniel and those around him are finding conspiracies all around.
During the reading, I had no idea who was being truly honest or who was the bad guy.

What I liked was how the author took Italy’s history and took that as inspiration for this story. That history was an ugly one, but through the whole story, you have no judgement from the author himself. The real facts are stated, and the story and characters are very dark and even if it’s fiction, you see the consequences of being part of an ugly history.

The story is about a murder, yet it was clear that in the end, nobody can be trusted to be 100% honest. And that corruption is something that can be found everywhere, anytime.
Yet the star of this book was Bologna itself… the way the city is described made me love the city even more, despite the past.

A good thriller in a beautiful setting!