"Exciting police procedural"
In the village of Stresa, near Lake Maggiore, Italy a well
planned kidnapping is carried out. Achille de Grazia, the
sixteen-year-old heir to wealthy and aristocratic
Vincenzo, the owner of numerous business enterprises and
his own island, is being ransomed for the sum of five
million Euros. While the family is raising the money, the
bones of a murdered man are found at a de Grazia
construction site. Forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, his wife Julie and
a de Grazia cousin Phil are in Stresa to host a "Travel of
the Cheap Tour." The carbineer in the form of Colonel
Caravale asks Gideon to help him identify the skeleton and
find out the cause of death. With the information Gideon
gives him, Caravale identifies the body of Vincenzo's
father who was thought to be lost at sea. After Achille
is returned, somebody tries to steal the bones and kill
Gideon, making him believe that the two crimes are linked
in some manner. Further investigation proves he is right
but it does not get him any closer to identifying the
perpetrator or the mastermind who is orchestrating events. After reading GOOD BLOOD, an appropriate title if ever
there was one, readers will find themselves wishing they
could go Italy and immerse themselves in the culture, just
not the sidebar that Gideon becomes part of. With only a
few days of holiday under his belt, Gideon is so antsy to
get back to work that he leaps into the case and makes
such a good impression on the colonel that he becomes his
de facto partner. This is an exciting police procedural
set among the blue bloods of Italian society. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 15, 2004
SummaryEven on an Italian holiday, anthropologist Gideon Oliver
and his wife can't seem to find any R & R. They're guests
of Mrs. Oliver's colleague on an idyllic island. But the
breathtaking view and sumptuous food come at a price. The
padrone's only child, Achille, has been kidnapped, bones
have been found... and Gideon must mix business with
pleasure.
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