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Audiobooks by Maurizio de Giovanni
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Maurizio de Giovanni presents By My Hand, the fifth book in the critically acclaimed Commissario Ricciardi series.
As Naples prepares for its holiday celebrations, behind the facade of order and happiness imposed by the fascist regime lurks terrible poverty and blinding desperation. In a luxurious apartment on the Mergellina beach, the bodies of a fascist militia officer and his wife have been found. The woman's throat has been cut, while the man has been stabbed over sixty times. Seemingly, the hands of two separate killers have been at work. A statuette of St. Joseph, patron saint of workers, lies in pieces on the floor. At the scene of the crime, Ricciardi, who has the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death, listens to the enigmatic last words of the couple. Accompanied by his faithful partner Brigadier Raffaele Maione-and once more troubled by two women who compete for his attentions-the commissario will have to trace a wide and frenetic arc through the streets of Naples in order to uncover the truth.
In the middle of a summer heat wave, as Naples prepares for one of its most important holy days, a renowned surgeon falls to his death from the window of his office. For Commissario Ricciardi and Brigadier Maione, it is the beginning of an investigation that will bring them into contact with the most torrid, conflicting, and enduring of human passions. In the world Ricciardi and Maione are about to enter, infidelity appears inextricable from the most joyful expressions of love, and this interdependence sows doubt and uncertainty in both men, compromising their own attempts at love.
Ricciardi is one of the most intriguing and unique figures to appear in crime fiction in recent years. He possesses the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death. This ability makes him an unusually effective investigator but plagues him and renders human relationships almost impossible. He is a classic noir hero and the cursed son of a city that, for all its Mediterranean splendor, is a perfect noir city.
In this new installment in the Commissario Ricciardi series, Maurizio de Giovanni creates a large cast of unforgettable characters and a compelling, suspenseful plot that demonstrates once more why he is considered one of the best crime writers working today.
“De Giovanni’s complex, lyrical seventh whodunit set in Fascist Italy finds Commissario Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi, a public safety officer in Naples who has been cursed with the ability to see images of the recently dead, even more miserable than usual after a romantic failure…A searing look at the tortured soul of the lead makes this entry especially memorable.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Naples, 1931. Together with his indefatigable partner Brigadier Maione, Commissario Ricciardi, a man driven into solitude by his paranormal “gift” of seeing the final seconds in the lives of victims of violent deaths—a talent that also makes him a highly effective investigator—is conducting an investigation into the death of the beautiful and mysterious Duchess of Camparino. The duchess’ connections to Neapolitan privileged social circles and the local fascist elite make the case a powder keg waiting to blow.
“A wonderfully suspenseful novel in which de Giovanni restores life to the cliché of the world-weary detective.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Crocodile
Ricciardi has visions. He sees and hears the final seconds in the lives of victims of violent deaths. It is both a gift and a curse. It has helped him become one of the most acute and successful homicide detectives in the Naples police force. But all that horror and suffering has hollowed him out emotionally: He drinks and doesn't sleep. Other than his loyal partner Brigadier Maione he has no friends.
Naples, 1931. In a working-class apartment in the Sanita neighborhood, an elderly woman by the name of Carmela Calise has been beaten to death. When Ricciardi and Maione arrive at the scene they start asking the neighbors questions. No one wants to talk, but slowly a few interesting facts slip out. Carmela Calise was moonlighting as a fortune-teller and moneylender. In her decrepit apartment, she would receive clients-among them some of the city's rich and powerful-predicting their futures in such a way as to manipulate and deceive. If economic ruin lurked in their futures, Calise was happy to help-for a price, of course. She had many enemies: those indebted to her, manipulated by her lies, disappointed by her prophesies, or destroyed by her machinations. Murder suspects in this atmospheric thriller abound, and Commissario Ricciardi, one of the most original and intriguing investigators in contemporary crime fiction, will have his work cut out for him.
Naples, 1932. A week before Easter, springtime offers fragrant temptations to the men and women of Naples—but evil also lurks in the sweet-smelling spring air. At the high-class brothel in the center of town known as Paradiso, Viper, the most famous prostitute of all, is found dead after being suffocated with a pillow. Her last client swears that he left her alive and well. But when her next client arrived, he found her dead. Who killed her and why? Ricciardi must untangle a complex knot of greed, frustration, jealousy, and rancor in order to solve the riddle of Viper’s death. As he does, he will discover an endless trail of conflicting emotions just beneath the surface of a city that lives on passion.
De Giovanni’s mysteries unfold with such sinuous ease that they seem to write themselves. They enchant, surprise, and keep readers enthralled. Commissario Ricciardi, with the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered a violent death, is one of the most fascinating investigators to make his appearance in the world of international crime fiction. In Viper, the lustful and boisterous city of Naples has never been more seductive.
“A wonderfully suspenseful novel in which de Giovanni restores life to the cliché of the world-weary detective.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Crocodile
