Death Of An Englishman

Oct 4, 2024 5:16 PM

Author:Magdalen Nabb

Introducing Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Florentine carabinieri, a Sicilian stationed far from home. He wants to go south for Christmas to spend the holiday with his family, but he is laid up with the 'flu. At this awkward moment, the death of a retired Englishman is reported. A most inconvenient time for a murder case. Who has shot Mr Langley-Smythe in the back? And why has Scotland Yard felt it appropriate to send two detectives, one of whom speaks no Italian, to 'help' the marshal and his colleagues with their investigation? Most importantly for the marshal, ever the Italian, will he be able to solve the crime in time to join his family over the holiday season?

This first book in the ever popular detective series is a wonderfully evocative piece of crime fiction and quasi-travel writing, as the reader is immediately transported into the heart of Florence, one of Italy's most beautiful cities.

Reviews

Nabb peels back the tourist facade of one of the world's most enchanting cities to reveal greed and lust, violence and depravity... Salvatore Guarnaccia [is] one of the most likeable sleuths to grace crime fiction... A hauntingly atmospheric tragedy

—— Glasgow Herald

Guarnaccia is one of fiction's most satisfying detectives, a man whose domestic life is as fascinating as his cases... the series began with Death of an Englishman and is distinguished by its superb sense of place

—— The Times 'One Hundred Masters of Crime'

Magdalen Nabb's books are set in a Florence so vividly brought to life that I long to go back there after reading each one.

—— Sunday Telegraph

Guarnaccia continues to impress as the most convincingly human of modern detectives and his creator as a writer of deep and rare dimension

—— Observer

On the basis of this elegantly twisted crime novel, Vargas is clearly an author who will rank alongside Henning Mankell. The detective, Commissaire Adamsberg, is the antithesis of Sherlock Homes: intuitive, preternaturally alert to hunches, and shabbier than Colombo. The plot kinks and switches in an utterly compelling manner. Creepy, sophisticated and wonderfully off-beat

—— Scotland on Sunday

Redhill's mild prose is dense with powerful emotional insights. Like Martin's art, it inspires a feeling of stillness and calm, of looking down on things from above; while underneath rest layer upon layer of meaning, prompting reflection on the novel's images and understandings long after the last page is reached.

—— The Times

Hauntingly good.

—— Elle

A first novel with a rich centre... not a word to spare or an image too many.

—— Montreal Gazette

Often intriguing... Jolene's youthful crassness and belated recognit ion or everything she lost are sharply and movingly evoked.

—— Sunday Times

Its combination of Grand Guignol and place setting does command attention

—— Metro London

Original, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children

—— Julia Donaldson , Daily Express

A deservedly acclaimed read.

—— Time Out London

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