By My Hand

By Maurizio de Giovanni

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 has had her throat cut while the man has been stabbed over sixty times. Seemingly, the hands of two separate killers have been at work. A statuette of San Giuseppe, 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Aug 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781609452179

Maurizio de Giovanni

Maurizio de Giovanni's Commissario Ricciardi books are bestsellers across Europe, having sold well over one million copies. De Giovanni is also the author of the contemporary Neapolitan thriller, The Crocodile (Europa, 2013), and the new contemporary Neapolitan series The Bastards of Pizzofalcone."" He lives in Naples with his family.""

Reviews for By My Hand

[janerawoof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ricciardi and Maione investigate the deaths of a high-level Fascist officer and his wife. The man turns out to have been not the paragon of civic virtue he seemed, so many possible suspects are presented. "By whose hand"[s] are the murders committed? Dr. Modo feels two killers had been involved. We get a marvelous description of Naples at the Christmas season, with much description of customs and holiday foods [yum!]. Manger scenes play a large part in the story. Fther Pierino, the compassionate priest who has become a friend to Ricciardi at one point discourses extensively on a crèche's symbolism.Although I'm not a crime novel fan in general, I AM enjoying this whole particular series. The author's characters are so much more realistic than just solving crimes; we get glimpses of their personal lives. Highly recommended.