Blood Curse: The Springtime of Commissario Ricciardi

The second historical mystery featuring Commissario Ricciardi, "one of the most interesting and well-drawn detectives in fiction" (The Daily Beast).

Commissario Ricciardi has visions. He sees and hears the final seconds in the lives of victims of violent deaths. It is both a gift and a curse. It has helped him become one of the most acute and successful homicide detectives in the Naples police force. But all that horror and suffering has hollowed him out emotionally. He drinks and doesn't sleep. Other than his loyal partner, Brigadier Maione, he has no friends.
Naples, 1931. In a working-class apartment in the Sanit neighborhood, an elderly woman by the name of Carmela Calise has been beaten to death. When Ricciardi and Maione arrive at the scene, they learn that Calise was moonlighting as a fortuneteller and moneylender whose clients were some of the city's rich and powerful. She predicted their futures in such a way as to manipulate and deceive and made many enemies--those indebted to her, swayed by her lies, disappointed by her prophesies or destroyed by her machinations. Murder suspects in this atmospheric thriller abound and Commissario Ricciardi, one of the most original and intriguing investigators in contemporary crime fiction, will have his work cut out for him.

"The promise that each life will intersect keeps Ricciardi and Maione's investigation lively."--Publishers Weekly

"A well-crafted, ultimately moving crime novel set in 1931 Naples . . . This is a solid series with an intriguing detective, and fans will eagerly await the third volume."--Library Journal

Author: Maurizio De Giovanni
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 05/07/2013
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.30w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781609451134
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/03/2013
Library Journal 10/15/2013 pg. 90

About the Author
Maurizio de Giovanni lives and works in Naples. In 2005, he won a writing competition for unpublished authors with a short story set in the thirties about Commissario Ricciardi, which was then turned into the first novel of the series. His books have been successfully translated into French, Spanish and German, and are now available in English.