Review: THREE CARD MONTE, Marco Malvaldi

• first published 2008 in Italian
  
• this edition published byEuropa Editions 2014
• translated by Howard Curtis
• ISBN 978-1-60945-205-651600
• 168 pages
• #2 in the Bar Lume series
• source: my local library 
• Available from Amazon

Synopsis (Amazon)

At the Bar Lume, with the exception of Massimo the bartender and his assistant, the beautiful Tiziana, the youngest regular is seventysomething Aldo. The principal, indeed the only, activity in which the bar's elderly patrons engage is sitting around playing cards and analysing, gossiping and chronicling every event that occurs in their small Tuscan town. They ask Massimo, to investigate a murder and provide a running commentary, playing devil's advocate to all theories about the crime. Their cunning at three card Monte has taught them to see the truth behind appearances.

My Take

The Twelfth International Workshop on Macromolecular and Biomacromolecular Chemistry takes place in Massimo's home town of Pineta in Northern Italy, attracting a number of Japanese delegates, including one very elderly and much revered professor. Massimo and Aldo, one of the pensioners, are to provide catering during its coffee and lunch breaks. There is great excitement and disbelief when the elderly Japanese professor is found dead, and then the police find they are investigating a murder. They need Massimo's help with translation as they interview the delegates one by one.

From Wikipedia: The Three-card Monte game itself is very simple. To play, a dealer places three cards face down on a table, usually on a cardboard box which provides the ability to set up and disappear quickly.The dealer shows that one of the cards is the target card, e.g., the queen of hearts, and then rearranges the cards quickly to confuse the player about which card is which. The player is then given an opportunity to select one of the three cards. If the player correctly identifies the queen of hearts, the player gets the amount he bet (his "stake") back, plus the same amount again; otherwise, he loses his stake. As the character who explains it to Massimo says, the trick is to get the player to focus on the wrong actions.

I didn't really enjoy the novel as much as I expected to although there are some humorous bits and quirky characters. I thought the attempts to make links between the title (and the card game) and the action of the murder mystery were a bit tedious, and although the novel was short, I got to the point where I wanted it to be over. The final explanation for the murder (the motive) was a bit thin.

My rating: 3.8

I've also reviewed
4.3, GAME FOR FIVE
4.5, THE ART OF KILLING WELL 

Review: THE ART OF KILLING WELL, Marco Malvaldi

• first published in Italian in 2011
  
• this edition published by Maclehose Press in 2014
• translated from Italian into english by Howard Curtis
• ISBN 987-0-85705-294-0
• 189 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Nothing could please a chef more than a chance to learn the secrets of a Baron’s castle kitchen. Having travelled the length and breadth of the country compiling his masterpiece, The Science of Cooking and The Art of Eating Well, Pellegrino Artusi relishes the prospect of a few quiet days and a boar hunt in the Tuscan hills.

But his peace is short-lived. A body is found in the castle cellar, and the local inspector finds himself baffled by an eccentric array of aristocratic suspects. When the baron himself becomes the target of a second murder attempt, Artusi realises he may need to follow his infallible nose to help find the culprit.

Marco Malvaldi serves up an irresistible dish spiced with mischief and intrigue, and sweetened with classical elegance and wit. His stroke of genius is to bring Italy’s first cookery writer to life in this most entertaining of murder mysteries.

My Take

This is a delightful book, both for its murder mystery and for its insight into Italian society in 1895, after unification. Here we have a Baron and his extended family living in castle splendour, with his heirs unaccustomed to doing anything for themselves. The first death is that of the young butler, poisoned by a glass of wine intended, it seems, for the Baron himself. The Baron is then peppered in the back with a shotgun, confirming that he was the intended victim of the poisoned wine.

Meanwhile Pellegrino Artusi is befriended by the daughter of the family who has the habit of reading private diaries, and he overhears the housemaid sobbing in great distress. Artusi has come to the castle to advise the Baron whether he could turn his home into a hotel to keep himself financially afloat, but he is a little distracted when one of the maiden aunts comes to believe he is a potential suitor.

This is a novel written with great humour, with the author breaking in occasionally to apologise for his departure from 19th century language. And at the back are some mouth watering recipes from the historical Artusi's cookery book published in 1895.

For The Art of Killing Well, for Marco Malvaldi was awarded both the Isola d'Elba Award and the Castiglioncello Prize.

I loved it.

My rating: 4.5

I have also reviewed
4.3, GAME FOR FIVE

Review: GAME FOR FIVE, Marco Malvaldi

• first published 2007, this edition published 2014
• translated from Italian into English by Howard Curtis
• ISBN 978-1-60946-184-4
• source: my local library
• 140 pages
• #1 in the BAR LUME series

Synopsis (Amazon)

At the Bar Lume, in a small coastal resort near Livorno, between shots of espresso and hands of cards, four old-timers and Massimo, the barman, wile away the time chatting, arguing, and theorizing about the murder of a young woman in their town.

The girl’s body was found in a dumpster bin on the edge of town. The victim’s now notoriously licentious lifestyle has everyone thinking that her death had something to do with the world of drug trafficking and dangerous sex that she inhabited. The prime suspects in the case are two of the girl’s nightlife associates. But out of love of gossip and just to pass the time, the group of old friends at the Bar Lume begin to pull the case to pieces, forcing the Barman Massimo into the role of amateur sleuth.

Here is a victory for pensioners! The four old-timers analyze the crime and the suspects, contextualizing both, and in the process put a comic spin on their often narrow-minded neighbors. From this “investigation,” in Malvadi’s lively and colorful prose, emerges a fascinating picture of life in a small town that, for all its faults, stubbornly resists the devastation of mindless global tourism.

My Take

This is an entertaining and relatively brief read. The plot is carefully layered, plenty of red herrings, and a suspect who doesn't emerge until almost the end. Most of the theorising comes from Massimo whose observations are detailed enough to give him indications of things that are not quite right.

My rating: 4.3