Product Description

A bomb explodes in the centre of Florence, hitting the car of Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara of the elite Squadra Mobile. The attack rocks the ancient city to its foundations. Ferrara was clearly the target - and he did, after all, just controversially imprison notorious Mafia boss Salvatore Laprua. A week later, another bomb explodes - bringing tragedy for Ferrara and a determination to find the culprit. But that same morning, Salvatore Laprua is found dead in his prison cell. So who is the mysterious influence behind the bombings - someone even the Mafia fear? An ingenious, gripping mystery, The Death of a Mafia Don has been a bestseller in Italy and across Europe. Written by former Florence police chief Michele Giuttari, it offers a fascinating insight into the secret world of the Mafia, and life in Florence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11678 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
Michele Giuttari was born in 1950 in the province of Messina. He was head of the Florence Police Force from 1995 to 2003, where he was responsible for re-opening the Monster of Florence case and jailing several key Mafia figures. He is now a special adviser to the interior minister in Rome, with a special remit to monitor Mafia activity.

Customer Reviews

Gripping novel of Mafiia and government intrigue.
Once again, using his police experience, Michele Giuttari creates a complicated but credible story of wheels within wheels plottiing, disloyalty, crimme and violence. The underlying awareness of treachery at all levels and the awareness that nothing is as it seems leads to a willing involvement on the part of the reader and a happy suspension of disbelief. The final surprise is very well managed.
A thoroughly good read.

Not so cosy Cosa Nostra
Any new author in the Italian crime fiction canon is welcome and when that author is an ex policeman himself more the better. This is the third in Michele Giuttari's series of novels featuring the Head of Florence's 'Squadra Mobile', Michele Ferrara. I feel it is the best of the three so far although I will now go back to re read the first two to see if I can revise my opinion.
Giuttari writes with obvious authority, he knows his subject area like the back of his hand so there are plenty of details about police and judicial practice which give the book added realism. The story literally starts with a bang when Ferrara's car is caught up in an explosion. Was he the target? How did the bombers know which route he would be taking to work? Are we talking terrorist or Mafia? Ferrara has trod on plenty of toes and upset many criminals and the recently imprisoned Mafia Don,Salvatore Laprua is prime suspect, then he too dies in his prison cell followed by a number of his family and associates leading the Squadra Mobile down into a web of corruption in high places and clan infighting leading from Florence to Sicily and back to Rome.
There are some genuinely scary scenes and some touchingly sad:the death of Ferrara's colleague Anna Giulietti and the revelations of her feelings for him written in her diary were moving. Throughout the book Ferrara's wife Petra is desperate for him to retire from this brutal and dangerous life and Ferrara too seems to be having his doubts but the reader will hope that these come to nothing: Ferrara, with his shoulder length salt and pepper hair and his feline hazel green eyes deserves to be with us for a while yet. He certainly ranks up there with the greats: Commissaro Guido Brunetti(Donna Leon), Salvo Montalbano(Andrea Camilleri)and Aurelio Zen (Michale Dibdin)