Tuscan resurrection and murder in strange times and places

Revitalizing a sleepy, rural village in Tuscany, then two Crime novels that deal with murder in different locations across the globe, geographical and temporal - are the books we review here. 

Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton 

A sleepy Tuscan village that’s fallen on hard times, and its colorful inhabitants, serve as a microcosm for the possibility and power of community - and adapting to changing times. It’s Lazzarini Boscarino, a picturesque hillside town, but tourists only stop there if they’re lost heading to the more popular Borghese, where an Art Festival happens yearly. This is Kira Buxton’s latest, and if you recall her Hollow Kingdom (Thurber Prize Finalist 2019); it was a fun post-apocalypse picaresque, led by a foul-mouthed pet crow, and a dog, facing zombies. This time, the main animal character would be Aria, a truffle hunting hound. And there’s an ancient donkey in the village, that nearly won the mayoralty. By a slim margin, that was won by Delizia Micucci, daughter of the former Mayor; and she’s now tasked to clean up his mess, and ‘resurrect’ the town. 

Giovanni Scarpazza is the local truffle hunter, Aria’s master, and it’s when Aria locates a fist-size white truffle that the plot picks up. Hailed as the potential saving grace for the village’s fortunes, it soon becomes apparent that greed and the lure of money can create dire effects as well. Bar Cellebrita, the watering hole of the villagers, is now a spot for where our cast of characters have to hold on to harmony, in the face of misfortune and unexpected occurrences, stemming from the discovery of the giant truffle. And there’s Nonna Amara’s restaurant and home, shuttered down after a landslide, and restoring the restaurant becomes symbolic of the hopes of the villagers. There’s a crazy pace to the proceedings as Sotheby’s, and the rest of the world, descend upon Lazzarini Boscarino, to conduct and watch this auction of the largest white truffle ever. 

Dead Money by Jakob Kerr 

This first novel is written by a true insider in the tech industry, as Kerr was one of the first employees at Airbnb; and is currently a lawyer and Communications Executive in Silicon Valley. The title refers to money frozen in a will, thanks to a clause that was added to the will. Trevor Canon is the CEO of Journy, the hottest start-up, that received a billion dollar funding from Hammersmith Ventures. Canon is found murdered with a single shot to his forehead in his office lair, so at one level, this is a locked room mystery, as access to his office is limited to those with special cards. Due to changes he made in his will that his money would be frozen until such time that someone has been convicted for his murder, the people at Hammersmith are super-concerned about the investigation, and that Canon’s murder be solved. 

The San Francisco Police Department was hopeless, so Hammersmith arranges for the FBI to take over the case, and tasks their PR Head and ‘fixer’ Mackenzie Clyde, to represent the company. Well-versed with how people in the tech industry behave, she (Clyde) immediately bumps heads with FBI agent Danner, son of a US Senator, who’s leading the FBI investigation. But some modus vivendi is arrived at, and Mackenzie and Danner soon find they are on the same team, unlocking the mystery behind Canon’s death, and sifting through the implications his death has on the fortunes of the heavily invested Hammersmith. A separate narrative strand deals with Mackenzie’s checkered past, and is full of surprises in terms of her motivation and family history. The novel is paced crisply, and serves as a snapshot of Silicon Valley’s rich and famous, and of the darkness lurking behind the glittery facade.

The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths 

Griffiths is one of my all-time favorite Crime Fiction authors of today. She consistently comes up with the goods, delivering on her intriguing cast of characters, and on the crime-solving that transpires. With this novel, she enters a new genre, adding an element of SciFi and Fantasy to her Mystery Thrillers. Set in 2023, introduced as Griffiths’ new heroine is Ali Dawson, police officer and mother, and tasked to handle ‘cold cases’ of a very specific nature. Cold as in frozen in time, as Ali is one of four operatives assigned to a special division that travels in time to observe and help solve crimes. Ali has red hair, a nose ring, and is 50 years old. Her son Finn works in the Government, in the office of Tory MP and Minister, Isaac Templeton. The plot thickens when Isaac asks the division to travel back to the 1850s to clear the name of his ancestor, Cain Templeton. 

It would seem that Cain Templeton was a high-standing figure of London society, but reputed to also be part of a sinister group called The Collectors, and rumor has it that the price of admission to be a Collectors member was to kill a woman. Exactly why Isaac specifically requests Ali to be the operative sent back in time is one of the mysteries to unravel. That Ali can’t make her way back to the present, and yet, someone seems to have returned to the present day is still another narrative strand. Hell breaks loose when Isaac Templeton is murdered in his Surrey estate, Ali is still stuck in 1850, and the police start pointing the finger at Finn, as their main suspect in the murder of Templeton. As in the Griffiths books, there’s much to savor here, and you’ll love taking second guesses at the solution to the different mysteries. My only minor gripe would be how everything is sewn up in a rushed manner at the end.