The Alvise Marangon Mysteries book #1
by Gregory Dowling
GENRE: #Historical-mystery
My rating: ★★★★★
Wonderful and gripping mystery!
4.8 stars rounded up to 5, but only because the author was lazy enough to include only a few meager lines as historical notes, when he could have enlightened the reader in a better way.
As for the mystery itself, the main character, the side ones and the setting, my rating is 5 full stars, I really loved it !!!!
---> If you like historical settings and Italian city like Venice, I recommend it!
Readable as a standalone, since it leaves nothing hanging, but there is also a book #2 ( series : The Alvise Marangon Mysteries ), which I already own and will read as soon as possible.
____PLOT IN SHORT ___ Republic of Venice, 1749.
The city is under the Dogeship of Pietro Grimani ( 1741-1752 ).
Alvise Marangon is a young man born in Venice, but raised by his mother, a theater actress, in England.
Returning to Venice to try his hand at art, after a couple of years he decided to earn a living as a tour guide (cicerone, is the old Italian word), working in tandem with his faithful gondolier friend Bepi.
Thanks to Alvise's perfect bilingualism, they work exclusively with English tourists.
One day they take on a boy and his tutor as clients, both interested in esotericism and who will meet mysterious and suspicious people, dragging Alvise into a network of murders, criminals, blackmailers and spies.
In fact, one of the greatest authorities in Venice will demand that Alvise become an agent in his service, under penalty of prison on false charges.
Days of investigations, disguises, kidnappings, escapes and fortunately also desperate rescues will follow, until Alvise, with the help of his friends, will find the truth.
___****______ **** ______
__MAIN CHARACTER ___ The story is told in the first person by Alvise, who is a sunny, spontaneous, lively character with a subtle irony that makes reading fun, even in moments of great tension.
The humor is never forced or exaggerated to be annoying, on the contrary it is well-dosed by the writer with wit and fully conveys the way of being cheerful and so little inclined to worry about the consequences of words and actions, of the main character.
Alvise will not fail to make you become his fan.
In addition to his sympathy, he proves to be a witty and enterprising guy, full of affection towards his friends and generous to the point of wanting to help even when it would not be convenient for him.
His only flaw is perhaps his loose tongue, he cannot hold back his sarcasm even in front of the authorities and despite having taken a vow of secrecy, he cannot help but be sincere.
Well, I also liked him for this!
___ SIDE CHARACTERS___ They are divided into 4 groups:
- the small circle of people dear to Alvise
- the authorities with whom he is forced to collaborate
- the clients
- the evil ones
Each character has their own peculiarity and each of them (even those that in a film we would call the extras) is useful to make the story more fun, more intriguing, more mysterious, more exciting, more suspenseful ... depending on the case and the moment.
I find them all well described and vivid, so much so that I almost believe I really know them.
___ DIALOGUES__ The dialogues are well written and thanks to the description of the tones of voice we can perfectly imagine the characters while they recite their lines, something that helps to define the atmosphere of the moment, whether it is light or threatening and full of suspense.
___ SETTING ___ In this case the city becomes the co-protagonist of the story.
Its beauty is made of luxurious palaces with foundations in the water, significant monuments in the history of the ancient republic and still existing nowadays, lagoons and canals on which gondolas and boats of different types parade day and night, fabulous and large squares where the festive crowd pours in full of colors and masks, dark nights in which only few lanterns reveal the human figures hidden under tricorn hats and cloaks...
Dowling's descriptions take you directly to the first half of the 18th century of the Venetian Republic and you can enjoy its timeless charm to the full while reading the book.
___MYSTERY____ It seems more complicated than it is, but until the end the reader remains wrapped up in uncertainty and doubt.
Perhaps I was more fascinated by Alvise's way of operating and the constant trouble he finds himself in, rather than by the mystery of the murder.
---> I mean, I was so caught up in the whole adventure that I wasn't focused on wanting to know who killed who at all costs. I think that the strength of this thriller is precisely this and I think that a good film director could really make a great movie out of it!
There are several characters who are not who they say they are so the twists and turns alternate with the theories that the reader is led to hypothesize, in this way you get to the end of the book without ever having a boring moment.
__ YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT ___ There are several words in the book that necessarily had to be written in Italian and Venetian, just to make the story more impressive and suggestive, but the author has provided a GLOSSARY, located AT THE END OF THE BOOK.
It is very useful even for me, because despite being Italian I do not know the Venetian words.
___ HISTORICAL NOTES: unfortunately disappointing, they are only a few lines and to know the basic history of the characters who really existed and the politics of Venice and some objects mentioned in the book by name (such as the "Marangona" and the "Bucintoro", but which are not explained during the story or in the glossary and you will have to search for them yourself on the web.)
In a novel in which fiction merges with true history, historical notes by the author are important to me.
I always feel disappointed when they are missing or almost that.
RECOMMENDED READ ?? Off course yes, to all mystery lovers, even to those who love "cozy mysteries" because:
- there are no bloody scenes
- the language is clean
- there are no sex scenes
Thanks for reading my opinion and sorry for my English, I'm from Italy.
READ ALSO MY REVIEW about the very well written and gripping sequel:
THE FOUR HORSEMEN , book #2 in Alvise Marangon mysteries by Gregory Dowling.
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