by Marco Vichi
52.– Stenterello is a traditional character of the Florentine carnival, clownish and often dressed in unmatching clothes.
53.– The song ‘Ventiquattromila baci’ (‘Twenty-four thousand kisses’) was written by Pietro Vivarelli and Lucio Fulci to music by Andrian Celentano, and was sung first by Celentano, then by various other Italian entertainers. The lyrics translate as follows: ‘With twenty-four thousand kisses / I should know today why love / Now and then wants a thousand kisses / a thousand caresses per hour, per hour / With twenty-four thousand kisses / the hours pass happily / It’s a splendid day because / Every second I’m kissing you. / No wonderful lies … / [sound effects] / passionate words of love / [sound effects] / Only kisses I ask of youuuuuuuuu / you … ou … ou … ou … ou … ou … ou! / With twenty-four thousand kisses / Love is so frenetic.’
Shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger 2013
Death in Sardinia
Marco Vichi
Florence, 1965. A man is found murdered, a pair of scissors stuck through his throat. Only one thing is known about him – he was a loan shark, who ruined and blackmailed the vulnerable men and women who would come to him for help.
Inspector Bordelli prepares to launch a murder investigation. But the case will be a tough one for him, arousing mixed emotions: the desire for justice conflicting with a deep hostility for the victim. And he is missing his young police sidekick, Piras, who is convalescing at his parents’ home in Sardinia.
But Piras hasn’t been recuperating for long before he too has a mysterious death to deal with …
Out now in paperback and ebook
Death and the Olive Grove
Marco Vichi
April 1964, but spring hasn’t quite sprung. The bad weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. And bad news is coming to the police station.
First, Bordelli’s friend Casimiro, who insists he’s discovered the body of a man in a field above Fiesole. Bordelli races to the scene, but doesn’t find any sign of a corpse.
Only a couple of days later, a little girl is found at Villa Ventaglio. She has been strangled, and there is a horrible bite mark on her belly. Then another little girl is found murdered, with the same macabre signature.
And meanwhile Casimiro has disappeared without a trace.
The investigation marks the start of one of the darkest periods of Bordelli’s life: a nightmare without end, as black as the sky above Florence.
Out now in paperback and ebook
Death in August
Marco Vichi
Florence, summer 1963. Inspector Bordelli is one of the few policemen left in the deserted city. He spends his days on routine work, and his nights tormented by the heat and mosquitoes.
Suddenly one night, a telephone call gives him a new sense of purpose: the suspected death of a wealthy Signora. Bordelli rushes to her hilltop villa, and picks the locks. The old woman is lying on her bed - apparently killed by an asthma attack, though her medicine has been left untouched.
With the help of his young protégé, the victim’s eccentric brother, and a semi-retired petty thief, the inspector begins a murder investigation. Each suspect has a solid alibi, but there is something that doesn’t quite add up …
Out now in paperback and ebook