Flavorful mystery novel These Dark Things is an interesting and captivating mystery novel set in Naples Italy. It's a pleasant and satisfying read that leaves you craving for more. Gina Falcone is one of the last bone cleaners. Her job is to prepare the bones for the second burial an ancient practice going back to Egyptians. When she goes to the local church to collect the bones for cleaning she discovers a corpse of a beautiful young girl. The victim a young student from Germany has been brutally stabbed in the heart yet not even a single drop of blood has been found near her body. Captain Natalia Monte member of the RAS elite within the national police Carabinieri is called in to investigate the murder. She and her partner Sergeant Pino Loriano will do everything it takes to find the murderer. It's nothing like I've ever read before. I was prepared to be served a simple murder mystery instead I got an excellent mix of culture history crime political issues personal drama and even a tiny bit of romance. J.M. Weiss skillfully incorporated many interesting historical and cultural facts into solid and wellthoughtout plot. The characters were brilliantly depicted and vivid the detailed descriptions made even the minor ones stood out. I found it really interesting to read about Italian traditions and customs political issues and conflicts with local criminal organization Camorra. I must say I'm deeply impressed by the amount of research the author must have done for this book. The mystery itself was a solid one. Just when I was starting to feel a little bit disappointed at how easily Natalia solved the murder a few unexpected incidents and twists came up along the way and I finished the book with the soothing feeling of satisfaction. I can't say I got attached to the characters nor was I especially fond of them. Despite the colorful and detailed descriptions the characters lacked emotions and were a little bit flat. But looking at the whole construction of the plot I can understand why it seemed like it after all there was so much going on on the 224 pages of the book. In the end I was pleasantly surprised at how the author concluded the story.
Pedestrian detective story set in a rotting rotten Naples Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Solid Debut Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
A good debut novel Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
a terrific look at Naples' cult of the dead Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Enjoyed it and will definitely keep an eye out for the next one. Really enjoyable read. If you're a Camilleri or a Leon fan it not Montalbano or Brunetti but it's got some kick ass goyles that I expect will be developed as time goes by.
promising Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
An addicting and rapid read As the cover hastens to tell us THESE DARK THINGS by Jan Merete Weiss introduces the Captain Natalia Monte series. This is a confident announcement particularly in these turbulent publishing times. Yet the novel more than earns the inference that popular demand will require and beget the publication of further works featuring the characters and settings within.The Soho Crime imprint is known for presenting quality crime fiction in the form of stories set in exotic places with characters to match. THESE DARK THINGS certainly continues that tradition and then some. Monte is a captain with Italian police or Carabinieri in Naples. As the book opens there is a strike by sanitation workers that results in garbage overflowing the streets. This creates a disturbing backdrop against Monte's investigation of an even more disturbing crime. A beautiful young university student named Teresa Steiner has been found in a church's burial crypt the victim of a brutal murder.Monte and her partner Sergeant Pino Loriano begin an examination that is hampered almost from the start by the limits unofficially placed upon their investigation according to the culture and unwritten laws of the streets of Naples. Monte a resident of Naples since her birth knows these rules so well that they are practically second nature to her. The problem lies in part with the victim who was popular in several senses of the word. It has been said that good girls go to heaven but bad girls go everywhere. Indeed Monte's investigation soon reveals that Steiner's list of sexual conquests potentially included everyone from clergy of the Holy Mother Church to the Camorra which is best described as the Mafia's older smarter and more dangerous brother. The Carabinieri enforces the law only to the extent to which the Camorra permits it to do so. As Monte is well aware her investigation into Steiner's death may lead to her own assassination not to mention those of her loved ones if the trail she follows leads to the wrong people.
This novel could be longer for book 1 of Captain Natalia Monte series Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
These Dark Things by Jan M. Weiss I loved the attention to details about the setting in Naples the life on the streets and the vivid characters.
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