Reviews – Page 855 – What Cathy Read Next…

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

The rules are simple:

Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topic is Authors I’ve Read The Most Books By. Regular followers of this blog will have no trouble guessing the author I’ll be featuring. Yes, it’s John Buchan. You can find out more about my Buchan of the Month reading project here. Although most well-known as the author of the adventure story The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan wrote many other books in a variety of genres – novels, short stories, poetry and biographies.

Here are ten facts about his life and works, followed by ten of my personal favourites from his many books.

He was a correspondent for The Times on the Western Front in 1915
He was appointed Director of Intelligence in the Ministry of Information in 1918
His Oxfordshire country home, Elsfield, was in earlier times visited by Dr. Samuel Johnson
He was created Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield in 1935
He was appointed Governor-General of Canada the same year
In the above capacity, he signed Canada’s declaration of war on Germany
He was a friend of T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) who visited Elsfield
Buchan is reported to have remarked that Alfred Hitchcock’s film version of The Thirty-Nine Steps was an improvement on his book
His sister, Anna, was the novelist O. Douglas
Buchan’s memoir Memory Hold-The-Door was a favourite book of US President, John F Kennedy

Ten Favourite John Buchan Books

The Power House – adventure featuring lawyer, Sir Edward Leithen

The Thirty-Nine Steps – adventure featuring Richard Hannay

Greenmantle – adventure featuring Richard Hannay

Mr. Standfast – adventure featuring Richard Hannay

Witch Wood – historical fiction set in 17th century Scotland

A Book of Escapes and Hurried Journeys – daring escapes and epic journeys from history

A Prince of the Captivity – globe-trotting adventure

The Blanket of the Dark – historical fiction set in the reign of Henry VIII

Memory Hold-The-Door – memoir

Sick Heart River – Buchan’s last novel, adventure featuring Sir Edward Leithen

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for A Quiet Death in Italy by Tom Benjamin. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the tour and to Constable for my digital review copy. You can read my review below but do also take a look at the posts by my tour buddies, The Magic of Wor(l)ds and Tizi’s Book Review.

About the Book

Bologna: city of secrets, suspicion . . . and murder.

When the body of a radical protestor is found floating in one of Bologna’s underground canals, it seems that most of the city is ready to blame the usual suspects: the police.

But when private investigator Daniel Leicester, son-in-law to a former chief of police, receives a call from the dead man’s lover, he follows a trail that begins in the 1970s and leads all the way to the rotten heart of the present-day political establishment.

Beneath the beauty of the city, Bologna has a dark underside, and English detective Daniel must unravel a web of secrets, deceit and corruption – before he is caught in it himself.

A dark and atmospheric crime thriller set in the beautiful Italian city of Bologna, perfect for fans of Donna Leon, Michael Dibdin and Philip Gwynne Jones.

Format: Paperback (352 pages) Publisher: Constable
Publication date: 21st May 2020 Genre: Crime

Find A Quiet Death in Italy on Goodreads

Purchase links*
Amazon UK | Amazon US | Hive (supporting UK bookshops)
*links provided for convenience not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

Although a debut novel, A Quiet Death in Italy has the feel of a book part way through a series. I mean that in a good way as its location – the Italian city of Bologna – and its main characters seem so very well realised. In particular, the author has given private detective, Daniel Leicester, a back story that makes him both a sympathetic character and leaves open plenty of possibilities for future story lines. There’s a great cast of secondary characters as well – Rose, Jacopo, Alba and Dolores. Not forgetting Daniel’s boss and father-in-law, the formidable Comandante for whom the phrase “We are family” is more than mere words, it’s a credo to live – and act – by.

But perhaps the key character is Bologna itself; a city in which ancient and modern exist cheek by jowl. So fashionable bars and restaurants are housed in former Renaissance palaces with trompe l’oeil ceilings and behind the high walls of family homes are hidden gardens and courtyards.

The satisfyingly intricate plot skilfully encompasses both past and present Italian political history involving a complex web of relationships, recrimination and revenge, and encompassing all levels of society. There are exciting action scenes and dramatic moments that make the most of city locations. And there is delicious sounding food – tortellini in brodo, tagliatelle al ragu, zuppe inglese to name but a few. (The book has a useful glossary in which, among other things, you can learn about ‘the Italian Banksy’ and the dish you should never ask for in a restaurant in Bologna.)

I really enjoyed A Quiet Death in Italy. An assured debut, it promises to be the start of a terrific new crime series. It won’t do the tourist industry of Bologna any harm either. My review copy came with a bonus – an excerpt from the next book in the series, The Hunting Season. I, for one, shall be eagerly awaiting its publication in November.

In three words: Suspenseful, assured, atmospheric

Try something similar: A Season for the Dead (Nic Costa #1) by David Hewson

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About the Author

Tom Benjamin started off as a reporter before moving to the press office at Scotland Yard and running drugs awareness campaign FRANK. He moved to Bologna where his work as doorman at a homeless canteen inspired him to create English detective Daniel Leicester in a series that serves up equal helpings of the local cuisine and ubiquitous graffiti; the city’s splendour, decay, and danger.

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Category: Reviews