D. V. Bishop

I am delighted to add D. V. Bishop's Cesare Aldo series to the list of historical mystery titles I'm always looking for. While Ritual of Fire is the third volume in this series set in mid-16th Century Florence, it worked perfectly well as a first-read. The characters are fully fleshed out (Bishop gives us peeks into their thinking during the narrative), their relationships with one another clearly established, with justification for their various likings and resentments. Bishop doesn't drag show more readers through any of those awkward filling-in-the-backstory moments that come all too often in series mysteries.

Some general observations—
• I know next to nothing about 16th Century Italy, but so far as I can tell Bishop has done a sterling job choosing details and phrasings that evoke the period without becoming cumbersome.
• The moments when vocabulary of the time/region are used work: the feel neither pedantic nor pompous.
• The pacing is a bit gradual, but that's because Bishop is giving us details that support the central mystery and establish the setting, not because of any lack of narrative arc.
• Some important characters, Cesare Aldo in particular, are (what we would call) gay, and at first I had my doubts about whether this identity would be accepted by other characters as it (mostly) is. Over time, Bishop chipped away at my doubts. Cesare Aldo is an unusual character, but doesn't come across as 21st Century political correctness moved back five centuries or so.
• The plotting is rich. Historical mysteries (IMHO) generally fall into three categories: those that are not really mysteries at all, but romance novels; those that are built around a rather slim central puzzle that quickly wears thin; and those with enough complexity to allow readers the fun of being armchair detectives throughout the book. Ritual of Fire falls into this last category.

When you're looking for a new historical mystery series to work your way through, I strongly recommend Bishop's Cesare Aldo novels. They're substantive in a way that rewards steadily across the reading experience.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less

The debut novel in a series featuring Cesare Aldo, former soldier, now an officer in the city's most feared criminal court, CITY OF VENGEANCE is set during the winter of 1536 in Florence, Italy. At that time Florence was a wealthy and influential city, ruled over by the Duke Alessandro de Medici - volatile and dangerous in his own right. When a prominent Jewish moneylender is murdered in his home Aldo is directed to solve the murder before the feast of Epiphany, in four days time. What the show more edict doesn't take into account is the plot that Aldo uncovers to overthrow de Medici.

Not only was Florence wealthy and influential at this time, it was also rife with intrigue, gossip, political machinations, inequality and sexual excess. The extreme wealth of many contrasted starkly with desperate poverty. (Felt way too familiar to be honest). The murders of Levi, a Jewish moneylender who lived in fear, dying at the hands of a murderer despite repelling attacks by murderous bandits before, occurs around the same time as a young man is also brutally murdered, his body discovered clothed in beautiful, and very expensive, women's clothing. With that investigation led by Constable Carlo Strocchi, Aldo and he soon find their cases intersecting and they combine resources to find the killer, in the face of some very determined resistance.

Whilst CITY OF VENGEANCE is obviously going to appeal greatly to fans of historical crime fiction, this is such a strong debut it's one that should be sought out by all fans of the wider genre. It's atmospheric to the point of sensory overload, cleverly plotted, perfectly paced and absolutely riveting. The settings in which the characters move about provide really vivid pictures of the extremes - from the great wealth to the grinding poverty; and the sexual excesses that become the bordellos and sex worker's daily lives. There's also plenty of moral ambiguity with one victim being the sort of man nobody could bring themselves to say anything positive about, from a family riven with problems of their own.

At the heart of it all though, especially as a debut novel in a character based series, Cesare Aldo has to have potential, and he's got it in spades. Larger than life in some ways, charismatic, yet believable, and accessible, there's something memorable about this character, and CITY OF VENGEANCE. Definitely a series to watch out for.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/city-vengeance-dv-bishop show less

In 16th century Florence, with the Medici's in control, Cesare Aldo works as an official detective, but his poor relationship with his boss has him banished to the rural countryside surrounding the city. A rich merchant is found burned to death and others quickly follow. Messages are posted around the city saying 'Savonarola Lives', suggesting the murders are related to the execution of the renegade monk forty years earlier. Aldo works hard to connect the murdered men to horrible crimes show more committed in the name of Savonarola in the past, but struggles to work out why start retribution now, forty years later, and who is doing it?

The politics, the power of the merchant classes and daily life in Florence are all presented naturally in the flow of the story and all ring true. The historical accuracy is strong. Aldo is an intelligent, perceptive and rational man, and, like all such, struggles to find his place in a world of climbers and self-servers. He uses reason to solve his crimes, resorting to violence only when he must.

A very good, immersive historical crime and thriller book. show less

While chasing down a curfew breaker, Aldo stumbles across a body posed to resemble Jesus on the cross and with its tongue cut in half.

Trying to solve the murders Strocchi and Aldo encounter exorcists and spymasters while Aldo deals with the disquieting possibility that the victims were chosen because they were gay. Another thrilling read. I'm not sure whether people in those days understood being gay as something they were rather than something they did but that is a minor quibble. Can't show more wait for the next one to be published. show less