Three-Card Monte
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
When a Japanese scientist dies in a Tuscan resort town, four old card players and their favorite bartender investigate in this comic Italian mystery.
In the Italian resort town of Pineta, along the Tuscan coast, one might find the sleepy Bar Lume inhabited by its owner Massimo and its elderly regulars engaged in a game of cards. But this is merely a cover for the true activities of this senile squad. In truth, they are at work analyzing, postulating, gossiping, and chronicling every event that occurs in their small Tuscan town, using the most colorful language and Tuscan slang possible.
When a chemistry conference at a local hotel is interrupted by the suspicious death of a Japanese scientist, Massimo is obliged to investigate on behalf of his all-too-curious clientele. The old-timers provide running commentary, demonstrating a cunning for sniffing out lies that can only be honed through decades of playing three-card monte.
The second book in Marco Malvaldi’s beloved Bar Lume series, Three-Card Monte is a comedy, a beguiling mystery, and a vivacious portrayal of small-town Italy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Even though the geriatric sleuths in Malvadi's modest second Bar Lume mystery (after Game for Five) may not be quick on their feet, they are quick with their wit when a murder disrupts their laid-back routine. When a large international scientific conference comes to the Italian resort town of Pineta, the four old codgers aren't happy to find new customers disturbing the tranquility at Bar Lume, their habitual spot to drink coffee and chat. Their peace is even more disturbed when one of the conference attendees, Koichi Kawaguchi, is found dead under suspicious circumstances. As any scientist at the conference could be the culprit, Massimo Viviani conference caterer, bar owner, and grandson of one of the four gets roped into helping the police solve the crime. Between griping and grousing about modern technology, the elderly quartet aids Massimo. A stereotypical culture clash ensues as Massimo translates between the scientists' English and the police's Italian. Like Massimo's efforts, some of the senior citizens' jokes are lost in translation as this whodunit builds to its unsurprising conclusion.
