Black Bridge
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Urbino Macintyre fights to protect the safety of his closest friend
Centuries ago, Venice celebrated the Day of All Souls by building a bridge of boats across the canal to the cemetery island of San Michele. As the tourist season winds down, the Contessa da Capo-Zendrini decides it's time to revive the tradition, organizing a fleet so the city can mourn once more as it did in ancient times. Her plans are upended, however, when her latest fascination, a rakish playwright named Bobo, begins receiving anonymous threats. She begs her friend, the amateur sleuth Urbino Macintyre, to find out who has been sending the letters, a thankless chore that becomes rather more interesting when Bobo is implicated in a grisly murder.
As the day of the contessa's black bridge draws closer, Macintyre scrambles to discover the true killer and keep his friend safe. If he doesn't act quickly, the contessa's journey to the cemetery may be a one-way trip.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sklepowich's fourth elegant Venice mystery (after Death in a Serene City) reunites amateur sleuth, American expatriate, Proust biographer and art restorer Urbino Macintyre with his dear friend, the lovely and wealthy Contessa da Capo-Zendrini (who last appeared in the series opener, Liquid Desires). At the loveliest time of year (the tourist-free autumn), the contessa summons Urbino from the mudbaths at Abano, where he's treating his gout and fretting about his 40ish age. The contessa, a youthful 60, has gone gaga over vigorous actor-playwright Barone Roberto Casarotto-Re. Just how gaga? She even allows him to smoke in her presence. The barone has received threatening notes accusing him of immorality--much like the hero of his one-man show, writer Gabriele d'Annunzio, who had an older mistress. Urbino hates the barone on sight; the man's nickname, Bobo, sets his teeth on edge. Struggling all the while not to be blinded by jealousy, Urbino deals with another American expatriate and a spa doctor who reeks of sulphur while he uncovers greed and a crime of passion--complicated by a double murder. All ends happily, with the contessa's fortune and her life saved from two men with designs on them. Original characters and a wonderful atmosphere make this an exquisitely subtle mystery.
