Stormy Weather

It is the flood of 1966 of the Arno  that people still remember all too clearly in Florence Italy.  This  disaster killed many people and destroyed  a great amount of beautiful art and  many precious rare books. Many buildings along the street have high water markers which clearly show the level the water reached that terrible time.

It is a cold raining November  in THE DROWNING RIVER by Christobel Kent and Florentines have been suffering from persistent rain which is bringing the flood of 1966 up in conversations and old memories.

It is during this miserable time that ex-police detective Sandro Cellini paces through his new office waiting for customers. This office has been found for him by his wife Luisa.  He has set himself up as a private investigator after two years of depression and aimlessness. Sandro was sent from disgrace from his previous career after letting his subconscious get the hand over his better judgement and a vicious killer was brought to heavenly justice before he could be punished by the state. I can't be more vague than that, but what I am really saying is that there are those who would not think what Sandro did  was so bad. But Sandro has the mopes about it to the point that he has taken two years to get some perspective.

One day two cases come to Cellini, one about a missing art student and one about the death of an old man who seemingly committed suicide. Claudio Gentileschi was a well known artist and architect and his wife Lucia  can't accept his death with out knowing more about it.

Here is where the story gets a little murky and the reader feels like he or she is walking through the rain. Luisa, Lucia get mixed up a lot as the story changes POV every few pages. The visibility worsens a bit when at the art school we run into two characters Anna and Antonella who we have to keep separated. They are a bit easier and we are grateful that the author chose not to  give Antonella a nickname like Anni or such.

So the river is rising as Sandro who is still unhappy and quite insecure tries to find his feet as the waters swirl around them. He is worried that he has forgotten even such basics as  the interviewing techniques he has used for twenty plus years. Iris, the roommate of the missing art student isn't sure what she should tell the police because while she did not care for her friend deeply there is still certain loyalty.  Iris starts to investigate a little on her own but she is frightened about her own safety.


 Iris and Sandro spend a lot of time investigating in the unrelenting rain and when Sandro finally shakes the mud off his feet the story picks up. I always enjoy Felony and Mayhem book so I hope the next in the series is a little more on firm ground.