Black Run
Antonio Manzini; Antony Shugaar (translator)
Harper, Apr 28 2015, $25.99
ISBN: 9780062310040
Knowing he prefers Rome to ice and snow and wanting him out of
their hair, his disgusted superiors banish Deputy Police Chief Rocco Schiavone
to Aosta in the Italian Alps due to his scornful attitude. Expecting icy ennui in this frozen tourist
tundra, Schiavone has his first major case; the apparent murder of an
unidentified person ripped to shreds by a snowcat machine on a ski run. His efforts to learn who the corpse is are
hampered by Schiavone feeling he is no longer in Italy as the locals are
radically different from the residents of his beloved Rome
Still overcoming the culture shock, Schiavone soon learns the
victim is Leone Micchichè, the co-owner along with his pregnant wife Luisa Pec,
of Belle Cuneaz trattoria. Luisa
explains to the cop that her spouse planned to raise money by selling property that
he and his brother own. As Schiavone
investigates the case, his focus remains triumphantly returning to Rome while
he also demands a cut in the lucrative tourist marijuana market.
The exiled protagonist turns the first Schiavone Italian police
procedural into a dark humorous whodunit as his interests are getting back to
Nirvana, obtaining a sideline cash flow, women and working the inquiry. The persons of interest seem
one-dimensionally interchangeable, but fans will relish the politically
incorrect antics of a corrupt yet ironically dedicated cop; who makes
Backstrom’s behavior seem pristinely by the book.
Harriet Klausner
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