The
Marshal at the Villa Torrini
A
Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia Mystery
Magdalen
Nabb
Soho
Crime (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-562-8 (1569475628)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-562-1 (9781569475621)
Publication Date: July 2009
List Price: $13.00
Synopsis (from the publisher): An English historian lies dead in the bath in her converted Tuscan barn. Her husband lies in a drunken stupor in the bedroom next door. The Marshal has a great deal of patience with human frailty but this woman’s death is made all the more poignant for him by it’s being her birthday, that day, and he really dislikes her husband so that, once he understands what has happened, he sets a trap of which he probably ought to be ashamed.
Review:
A Marshal's work is never done, as the Marshal tries to close one case
while opening another in The Marshal
at the Villa
Torrini, the 9th mystery in
this series by the late Magdalen Nabb. Originally published in 1994,
Soho Press is reissuing the early books in this outstanding series of
mysteries that take place in Florence, Italy.
Salvatore Guarnaccia, Marshal-in-Chief of the Carabinieri, in command
of the Pitti Palace Police Station, has been called as a Prosecution
witness in the trial of the death of Anna Maria Grazzini, aged
thirty-five and in “robust health”, who died,
according to the three witnesses, after receiving “a bit of a
push” causing her to fall near a chest of drawers. When she
arrived at the Santa Maria Nuovo Hospital she was found to have
injuries of a fractured jaw and cranium, five broken ribs and a
punctured pancreas. While waiting to testify, the Marshal is called to
the villa of Eugenia Torrini who believes there is something just not
right in her neighbor’s apartment. The light is always on in
the bathroom but no one answers the telephone or the door. When the
Marshal goes to check, he finds the doors locked. Torrini has a key and
together they enter the apartment. There they find Celia Rose Carter
dead in her bathtub filled with red water and pinkish foam, a wine
glass broken under her body. Her husband is in a drunken state of
unconsciousness in the next room. In a little town where not much more
is expected of the Marshal than to keep order in the district, settle
neighbor disputes, find stolen bicycles and snatched purses, this is
certainly a situation of intrigue.
Celia Carter was a writer. She was well known and well liked, and was
also well paid for her work. She had a teenaged daughter away at
college in London. She fell in love with and married Julian Forbes,
almost twenty years her junior, a man who was envious of his
wife’s success but unable to achieve his own. He was a hard
drinker and when drunk always tried to seduce one or more of
Celia’s friends. Again without success. When Celia is found
dead, it appears to be suicide. There is open medication on her
nightstand, tranquilizers and sleeping pills. The Marshal, however,
believes Celia has been murdered and her husband is somehow involved.
The proof, however, is not evident as there isn’t a mark of
violence on Celia. Still, the Marshal believes her death was not
accidental or a suicide, but with no evidence to support his belief,
how will he prove it?
The mysteries in this series are so elegantly constructed, with richly
drawn characters and vivid descriptions of place. The Marshal is a
devoted family man, and in the present book his weight is of concern to
his wife. She has put him on a strict diet, though this doesn't
interfere—at least, not much—with his deductive
investigation of what he believes to be a murder. The Marshal at the Villa
Torrini is a pleasure to
read, both for its mystery plot and to learn more about the Marshal, a
most interesting character who continues to evolve with each succeeding
book.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Marshal at the Villa Torrini and to Soho Crime for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Marshal at the Villa Torrini? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Death
of
an
Englishman
Scribner (Hardcover), November 1982
ISBN-10: 0-684-17757-9 (0684177579)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-17757-1 (9780684177571)
Death
of a Dutchman
Scribner (Hardcover), March 1983
ISBN-10: 0-684-17847-8 (0684178478)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-17847-9 (9780684178479)
Death
in
Springtime
Scribner (Hardcover), May 1984
ISBN-10: 0-684-18133-9 (0684181339)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-18133-2 (9780684181332)
Death
in
Autumn
Scribner (Hardcover), June 1985
ISBN-10: 0-684-18337-4 (0684183374)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-18337-4 (9780684183374)
The
Marshal and
the Murderer
Scribner (Hardcover), December 1987
ISBN-10: 0-684-18884-8 (0684188848)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-18884-3 (9780684188843)
The
Marshall and
the Madwoman
Scribner (Hardcover), December 1988
ISBN-10: 0-684-18984-4 (0684189844)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-18984-0 (9780684189840)
The
Marshal's Own Case
Scribner (Hardcover), July 1990
ISBN-10: 0-684-19201-2 (0684192012)
ISBN-13: 978-0-684-19201-7 (9780684192017)
The
Marshal Makes His Report
HarperCollins (Hardcover), September 1992
ISBN-10: 0-06-016914-1 (0060169141)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-016914-5 (9780060169145)
The Marshal at the Villa Torrini
HarperCollins (Hardcover), July 1994
ISBN-10: 0-06-016915-X (006016915X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-016915-2 (9780060169152)
The
Monster of
Florence
Never published in the US
Property
of Blood
Soho Crime (Hardcover), September 2001
ISBN-10: 1-56947-251-3 (1569472513)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-251-4 (9781569472514)
Some
Bitter Taste
Soho Crime (Hardcover), October 2002
ISBN-10: 1-56947-317-X (156947317X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-317-7 (9781569473177)
The
Innocent
Soho Crime (Hardcover), October 2005
ISBN-10: 1-56947-414-1 (1569474141)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-414-3 (9781569474143)
Vita
Nuova
Soho Crime (Hardcover), June 2008
ISBN-10: 1-56947-493-1 (1569474931)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-493-8 (9781569474938)
Omnimystery
keywords for The Marshal at the
Villa
Torrini ...
Location(s) referenced: Florence, Italy.
