i was excited when I read the descriptions of this series as being world noir and a mix between Blomqvist and Harry Hole. Instead I found endless descriptions of spring in various depressing and uninteresting Naples neighborhoods. 343 pages to endlessly discuss and commiserate over one seemingly insignificant murder and the romantic daydreams of the two active detectives. Instead of noir, I would call this Psychoesque ending as being firmly in the tradition of the school of boring realism. ( )

Bellissimo e imperdibile. ( )

Che succede a giocare con le illusioni, a cancellare i sogni? Una cartomante e un'usuraia, nella stessa persona: inventare il futuro e sbriciolarlo tra le dita. Mentre la città si apre alla primavera, nel solito trionfo di profumi e canzoni, il più tenero degli amori diventa la peggiore delle condanne: e spegne nel sangue anche il ricordo di un'antica passione.
Source: Amazon - September 20, 2021 (4a copertina)

Commissario Ricciardi has visions. He sees and hears the final seconds in the lives of victims of violent deaths, which is both a gift and a curse. It has helped him become one of the most successful homicide detectives in the Naples police force. But all that horror and suffering makes him a very lonely man. Other than his loyal partner, Brigadier Maione, he has no friends.

Set in 1931 in the Sanita area of Naples, in a working class neighborhood, an elderly woman has been viciously beaten to death. Commissario Ricciardi and Brigadier Maione arrive at the scene and start asking questions. No one wants to talk but slowly the neighbors let a few interesting facts slip out. Carmela Calise was a fortuneteller and moneylender. In her decrepit apartment she would receive clients, among them some of the city 19s 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 who were indebted to her, or had been manipulated by her lies, disappointed by her prophesies or destroyed by her intrigues. Murder suspects are too numerous to count in this atmospheric thriller, and Commissario Ricciardi, one of the most original and intriguing investigators in crime fiction, has his work cut out for him.

Blood Curse is a tangled story of jealousy, love, money, tragedy and lust with well drawn characters in an unusual historical setting. It is beautifully written. In Fascist Italy it is natural that Ricciardi 19s boss, Angelo Garzo, will be a political animal and the author really captures him, as well as all the characters. Of course Ricciardi is not a fascist but a good man in a difficult environment. This is one of my favorite books of the year. The reader is given social commentary about the divisions between the wealthy and the deprived in Naples, details about the lives of the detectives, all blended in with a terrible crime, a few red herrings and some surprises. I don't think this will appeal to every reader, of course, but if you are a fan of noir crime thrillers you might enjoy it. ( )

My review is on my blog site.

https://polymathtobe.blogspot.com/2020/05/book-review-blood-curse-by-maurizio-de... ( )