The Salati Case

I enjoyed this book very much and was pleased to discover that it's the first in a series to feature the Italian private investigator, Castagnetti ("Casta"). When he's commissioned to find out what happened to the son of a recently deceased woman so that her estate can be probated, there really isn't much doubt about whether or not the son is alive or dead; instead, the author does a nice job of maintaining suspense as Casta untangles the various relationships to determine who is responsible and why and there are some interesting twists leading us to the answer. There are no superfluous characters here, no pointless plot moves, just an intelligent exposition of some familiar themes.