Via delle Oche

Via delle Oche is the third volume in Lucarelli's Commissario De Luca Trilogy, and my favorite of the three. Set in 1948 Bologna, Commissario De Luca has somehow escaped execution as a fascist in post-war Italy and now he's a detective in the vice squad. Despite being a member of the political police during the war, it's clear that De Luca has no clear political leanings. He's just trying to survive. And for now he has, but it's also clear that he's in danger from warring political factions in the city. The book takes place primarily during four days in April, in the days leading up to a general election; the Communists are hoping to prevail against the Christian Democrats. Each chapter opens with headlines from the newspaper, show more emphasizing that soccer star Gino Bartali may be more popular than any of the political candidates.

There's also a murder to solve: a young man named Ermes Ricciotti who works as a bouncer in a brothel has been found hanging in his room. At first it appears to be suicide, but De Luca notices that the young man's feet wouldn't have reached the stool. Despite the fact that prostitution is legal in Italy, albeit strictly regulated, no one seems particularly concerned about the young man's murder. Except De Luca, of course. Soon, there's another murder, a photographer named Osvaldo Piras, who has connections to Ermes. As usual in a De Luca mystery, murders that originally seem to have no political motives eventually point in that direction. In the end De Luca knows who is responsible for the murder, but must accept that they will not be prosecuted.

My favorite aspect of this book was Lucarelli's evocative writing, probably aided by Michael Reynolds's translation, which moves a break-neck speed. I also thoroughly enjoyed the historical detail and sense of place. The reader never learns much about De Luca but in the end that seems fitting. He's a police officer, focused on solving crimes, preferably murders. At the very end of the book, we learn that he sleeps in a furnished room and only now, in his late 30s, is he thinking about getting a more comfortable place to live. The action has fast-forwarded from April 18, 1948, to July 14, 1948. The Christian Democrats won the election, but Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliotti has been shot, leading to a general strike and fears of revolution. Suddenly, survival seems more important to De Luca than comfort. show less

The final part of Lucarelli’s De Luca trilogy jumps from the immediate end of the Second World War to 1948, with Italy preparing for elections amid fears of a communist takeover. How De Luca escaped the death penalty for his involvement with the fascists is not explained, at least not immediately, but he is now working in the vice squad in Bologna.

When a man is found dead in a room above a brothel De Luca’s bosses write the case off as suicide. De Luca, of course, knows better and ignores the order to drop the case. He’s soon in the familiar position of being trapped between the political considerations of his superiors and his desire to see justice done.
Full review: http://www.26books.com/?p=544

Fast paced. De Luca, still with terrible digestive problems and insomnia, functions solely on pursuit of the truth at the heart of a murder case, that begins with the discovery of minder in a brothel.
De Luca's job is made difficult through the political manouvering among higher placed police officials at the time of the1948 Italian election; and by his associations with policing in the fascist period.