The Lizard's Bite

Nic Costa, Gianni Peroni and Leo Falcone have been temporarily exiled from Rome as a result of their police work that ruffled more than a few feathers; they are currently finishing out their exile in Venice, where they are despised by the local constabulary and itching to leave the tourist-infested place. When a couple of unsavory deaths occur at a glass-making factory on a nearby island, the local police ask that the Romans clear up the matter for them quickly: it is obvious that the husband killed the wife and then, remorseful, himself, so if they can just do a quick investigation and come up with that conclusion, everybody will be happy and the Romans can go home a little early. Unfortunately, the local police don’t know Nic, show more Gianni and Leo - not at all…. “The Lizard’s Bite” is the fourth in David Hewson’s Nic Costa series, and although it’s set in Venice rather than Rome, it is just as complex and brutal as the earlier three novels. The relationships between the three men and Nic and Gianni’s girlfriends as well are given more depth as the series goes on, and the complicated ways in which Italian justice seems to work (or not) are very strongly depicted. I like the way that our heroes never give up a case; they are shown as being perhaps the only honest detectives in the police forces of Italy, although of course they have their own failings as well. Highly recommended, but make sure you have a strong stomach before trying these books out! show less

I do like this series, but the book does tend to be over-written at times, and so can plod along. Some of the more interesting characters are minor ones who aren't necessarily fully developed (eg the farmer Piero Scacchi). In was also left confused about the 'who did what to whom'-ness of the sub-plot involving a young couple, and in the end, most of it was a distraction from the core reason for their being : illustrating the obsessive poseessiveness of a the main suspect.

Hewson has chosen Venice as his setting, taking the main protaganists out of their native Rome. In "invading" the turf of Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti, I think it works less successfully, with the Venetian police almost universally cast as villains or dunderheads. show more Michael Dibdin had his angst-ridden 'tec, Aurelio Zen, come back to his native Venice and fight corruption as an 'insider without', as opposed to outsiders within....and Dibdin's elegant, literary prose wove magic, whereas Hewson's somehow didn't quite make it - the crooked cop seemed a bit too cardboard-cutout, the hit squad laughably stereotypical.

I also found the plot starting to get repetitive - two separate parties at the mansion in question, two murders...ho hum.

The theme, set amongst glass-makers of Murano has been the subject of one of Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series [Through A Glass, Darkly], and the family obsession was strong in both, though it was never clear to me in Hewson's HOW the family intended to continue when the only member entrusted with the 'secret formulae' had been bumped off!Leon's work is more deeply analytical of the social, economic and environmental problems confronting Venice, although Hewson also deals with some of the themes quite well.

I did like the setting in and around the lagoon, and thought some of the more successful moments were on the farming island, Sant' Erasmo.

In short, a decent whodunit which is a good read for lovers of this genre, but it never really soared for me.

If you like this one, do seek out Dibdin and Leon, however. show less

If you haven't read the previous books in the series, stop here.

If you have, you'll remember that at the end of the last one (The Sacred Cut), the main characters, Nic Costa, Gianni Peroni and their boss Leo Falcone, have been exiled to Venice for awhile for a slight matter of insubordination. While there, they were treated as outsiders, pretty much laying low, not getting involved in too much crime business. They are on the eve of some leave, and their friends from Rome have come to visit, when murder strikes. The scene is the Isola del Arcangeli, a glass factory that has not done well for the Arcangelo family lately, keeping them in constant debt. One of the Arcangelos is found dead, burned to a crisp, along with his wife. Our three show more police friends are told that they must come up with a satisfactory conclusion to the murder within a week; for it is then that English businessman (and superbly shady character) Hugo Massiter is going to be buying the island on which sits the factory, and everyone higher up it seems does not want any glitch in the sale. They have their minds made up that Uriel Arcangelo killed his wife and then himself...and need the Roman policemen's seal of satisfaction on the investigation in case the murder ever comes under scrutiny. But the three are not so easily put off...and the investigation leads to a wonderful plot twist that I didn't see coming. A very fun story, and it will appeal to readers who want a mystery that is intellectual and a definite cut above what's out on the shelves today. Recommended, highly, but do read the books in order. show less

Een beter verhaal dan de vorige, hoewel nog geen topper. Op sommige momenten wat langdradig .

De detectives Costa en Peroni zijn samen met hun leidinggevende, inspecteur Falcone, verbannen naar Venetië nadat ze hun superieuren (in De Pantheon getuige) dwars hebben gezeten.

Omdat zij nu eindelijk 2 weken vakantie hebben, komen hun vriendinnen Emily en Teresa over. De vakantie wordt echter ingetrokken, als de oven van een glasblazerij oververhit raakt en twee mensen om het leven komen. De mensen zijn man en vrouw, en het blijkt al snel dat de vrouw zwanger was. Haar man was echter impotent... Het bedrijf is zo goed als bankroet. Een rijke Engelsman wil het bedrijf kopen. Hij is echter verwikkeld in een aantal legale en illegale zaken.

Zij show more moeten er voor zorgen dat de uitslag van hun onderzoek overeenkomt met de opinie van de commissaris, namelijk dat het om een huiselijke ruzie gaat.

Voor ongeveer een derde deel was het verhaal moeilijk om in te komen, maar daarna gaat het steeds beter.

Zo beginnen in Het zevende sacrament.

show less

Two Italian detectives become involved in a bizarre double murder that occurs in Venice. The victim is a member of an eccentric family sur-named Arcangeli. They live on an island where they operate a glassmaking furnace, the art of glassmaking having been passed down to them from their father. The two cops are called in to shuffle papers and rubberstamp the opinion of the town fathers, which is that the glassmaker and his wife died as the result of a domestic dispute. But, being who they are, the cops cannot let their doubts about the truth of the matter rest.
The story is full of detail and moves rather slow. I had a hard time getting into it and didn't find it that suspenseful. Those looking for a 'literary' read and who would enjoy show more immersing themselves in the Venetian setting would probably enjoy it more. show less

well for the first 300 pages i liked it. it's well paced , the dialogue is really well written and the plot develops nicely. but after those 300 pages it all goes sideways. all the re-telling in retrospect just pissed me off. i mean it's ok if you put it here and there for some diversity but here is just way too much. and there are too many unnecessary location descriptions , i mean i can pretty much picture for mu self what an uninhabited island in a lagoon looks like i don't need 10 pages telling me.

'The Lizard’s Bite' is the fourth book in the series of the Nic Costa Mysteries featuring Nic Costa, his partner Gianni Peroni and their Commissario Leo Falcone. This story starts off with the death of two members (husband and wife) of a local glass making family. Nic Costa, Gianni Peroni and Commissario Leo Falcone who at the end of the previous book were exiled to Venice as a punishment, get assigned to this case. They were instructed to turn in a quick conclusion of a domestic murder-suicide and take their leave, as they were near the end of their stay. But it quickly becomes obvious that it was not a domestic murder-suicide as different characters and situations come up. An Englishman who wants to take over the glass making show more family’s property, the lead on the case Hugo Massiter… Costa and his colleagues are pulled into a web of lies, deceit and cover-ups, and soon find that not everything is as it seems.

The book started off very slowly but builds up as it goes on, bit by bit. There are many twists and turns in the plot, and many surprises, especially the unpredictable ending. show less