The Fatal Touch
A Commissario Alec Blume Novel
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
Alec Blume returns to action in this intricate and heart-pounding new novel. With the help of his associate Caterina, Blume is called to the scene of a death connected to a spate of muggings. Though the Carabinieri-military police-are trying to control the investigation, Blume, never one to bow to authority, pursues it his own way.
When it becomes clear that the victim is an art forger, enemies-and hidden treasures-begin to emerge. Relying on old friends and intuitions, Blume hurls himself into the center of the mystery, risking his job, his neck, and just about anyone who trusts him.
Immersed in its old-world setting and written with satisfying detail about inks and signatures and the tools of forgery, this is a riveting novel, with rich characters and a spectacular conclusion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Fitzgerald's exciting sequel to The Dogs of Rome, a string of muggings targeting foreign visitors staying at Rome's tourist hotels turns deadly when a man's body is found in Trastevere, a picturesque medieval neighborhood on the Tiber's west bank. But this victim is no traveler he's an art forger with a laundry list of enemies. Police Commissioner Alec Blume, an American expatriate who's lived in Rome for more than 20 years, and his team have barely begun investigating when the carabinieri take over. Alec calls on old friends for help as the carabinieri's crooked Colonel Farinelli tries to discredit him. The heroic if aloof Alec sees the same outsider qualities in Caterina Mattiola, a rookie inspector and single mother, whom he patiently shows the details of detective work and office politics. Intriguing touches such as the tools a forger has in the kitchen and a strong sense of Rome's environs enrich the intelligent plot.
