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Revision as of 13:51, 18 December 2011
, 13:51, 18 December 2011no edit summary
Near Verona, northern Italy, autumn 1943: Captain Martin Bora is a German military policeman, known to have conducted previous murder investigations. He is asked to look into the death of one Vittorio Lisi, a prominent local fascist who was run over in his wheelchair on his own estate by a car. The number one suspect is his widow Claretta.
Liar Moon is the second book in this series, following on from [[Lumen by Ben PasorPastor|Lumen]] which was set in Poland in 1939, but it is not essential to have read the first. There are references to his time in Poland and even to the case there, but there are no spoilers. Curiously, there are also references to his time in Spain and Russia, and I wondered if she plans to set future Bora books there, probably going back in time a little.
Bitter Lemon Press specialises in publishing translated crime fiction from around Europe and beyond. However, Ben Pastor is an Italian woman who lived for over 30 years in the US and her novels are originally written in English. I enjoy crime fiction from other countries but I did like the fact that I could read about a different setting without having to wonder whether the translation fully reflected the original.
In Liar Moon, as in the predecessor, Pastor moves into telling her story without a lot of explanation of the historical background, which is quite complicated, and I felt a need to research online to properly understand the story and the setting (as I did with [[Lumen by Ben Pastor|Lumen]] – in 1943 a new Italian government deposed Mussolini and switched sides to join with the Allies instead of fighting with Germany. The Germans had responded by invading and taking control of northern Italy, and were keen to keep the trust of their Fascist supporters there, despite significant differences of policy and emphasis over issues such as the treatment of Jewish people in Italy.
The characters in this book are more interesting than the plot, especially Martin Bora himself. Pastor has created a hero who is a representative of an evil regime, yet he is in his way a human being, who has principles but must compromise them in his day to day work. This time Pastor has created a second central detective character, Sandro Guidi, and much of the story is told from his point of view, including his perceptions of Bora, a man he finds difficult to work out. In the context of the politics at this time in Italy’s history, it is to be an uneasy working relationship.
Thank you to Bitter Lemon Press for sending a copy of this book to the Bookbag.
Bitter Lemon specialises in crime fiction set in different locations – as well as [[ Lumen by Ben Pastor|Lumen]], do try Gianrico Carofiglio’s [[Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio|Temporary Perfections]], or [[A Shortcut to Paradise by Maria Solana|A Shortcut to Paradise]].
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