Magdalen Nabb
The Marshal Makes His Report
HarperCollins Pbk £4.99 (0 00 649695 4)
When the body of Buongianni Corsi is found lying face down in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ulderighi there seems no doubt in the minds of his family that his death was an accident. The Marchesa, wife of the dead man, will entertain no other possibility and her power and status in the city means that Marshal Guarnaccia questions at his peril. But question he does.
The death could have been suicide, or even murder. Marshal Guarnaccia is a man of integrity and tenacity. He knows that something is not quite right and resents that he’s expected to go along with any possible cover up. But fear (for his job) and an inexplicable foreboding hover over the Palazzo, setting the tone of his investigation. The Palazzo has secret passageways, darkened corridors, towers, locked rooms and a family curse. The eerie music of piano and flute floats down to haunt Guarnaccia wherever he ventures. With a set of characters to match; the domineering matriarch, powerless and weak son, faithful but suspicious servants, the result is strongly gothic in tone.
Magdalen Nabb has produced a gripping, atmospheric tale which conjures up life in a city where the old and new faces of Florence collide. The hold of old family power over the police authorities is no illusion. If Marshal Guarnaccia himself makes no effort to investigate further, the truth will go undiscovered. Marshal Guarnaccia, for all his indecisiveness, nightmares and anxieties is a man you’d be happy to have on your side. He works well with his co-worker, young Brigadier Lorenzini whom he likes and respects, but sometimes he "would have preferred a fellow Sicilian to work with him. Someone a little more mellifluous, more tactful, who wouldn’t have dreamt of asking direct questions on such a delicate matter. Florentines, now… They stared you straight in the eye and just asked." Insights such as these into the peoples of Florence, and the atmosphere of the city make Magdalen Nabb’s stories distinctive. She has the ability to reveal the true essence of a character, to make you wait impatiently for his next appearance. For anyone who’s never experienced the allure of Marshal Guarnaccia’s Florence, it’s certainly well worth a visit. (EAL)
