3rd in the Marshal Guarnaccia series.

A young American student is kidnapped in broad daylight in March, during an unusual snowstorm that so distracts the Florentines that the Marshal can not find anyone who witnessed the crime. The kidnapped woman’s friend, another foreign student, is released with a message for the victim’s parents. Because kidnapping is practically an industry with the Sardinians who occupy the hills surrounding Florence, the carabinieri are well-versed in hostage technique and the difficult job of getting the victim back—alive.

This, then, is the setting. What follows is a fascinating look at Sardinian culture as lived on the mainland, in the mountains around Florence. Enlivening the book no end is the cast of characters. Carrabiniere Bacci appears once again, as his English language skills come in handy in communicating with the kidnapped woman’s friend (with the predictable result that he half falls in love with the young woman). A new substitute Prosecutor from Milan is hardly cast in the usual mode, and his cigars and comments add a great deal to the story. Carabinieri life outside the urban area is explored for what it is—getting to know the people, all the details of their lives and habits, the countryside counterpart to Guarnaccia’s (himself from a Sicilian peasant family) urban obsession with serving the “ordinary” people of his Quarter. Captain Maestrangelo, ever more respectful of Guarnaccia’s intuitive talents, adds his usual efficient, somber presence. And the Stockholm Syndrome makes its appearance.

The understated writing, the fully-realized characters, and believable plots, as well as the very evocative setting in Florence set this series far and above the ordinary in police procedurals. This one is no exception—it is a real page-turner quietly building up suspense until you are racing through at he end to see the well-thought out denouement.

Highly recommended. ( )

Georges Simenon wrote a letter to his "friend and fellow author," Magdalen Nabb, saying this book "...is the first time I have seen the theme of kidnapping treated so simply and so plausibly." The letter is published at the beginning of the book, where one might expect a Preface.

With good reason. Her main character of the series, Marshal Guarnaccia, plays a small role in this book, but the Sardinian shepherds, the Substitute Prosecutor, Captain whose case it is, the young foreign students, the father of the young woman who was kidnapped, her step-mother, and many more characters are wonderfully drawn and believable. ( )