I am excited about this new Historical Fiction series by D.V. Bishop. It is set in the sixteenth century in Florence, Italy. The ruler at that time was Duke Alessandro de Medici.
The first book, City of Vengeance, came out in 2021. The cover caught my eye in the bookstore. Having been to Florence, the Palace of the Medici Family, the Ponte Vecchio, I was intrigued. So, I sat down to read and lost the weekend.
City of Vengeance
We are in 1536, on horseback, and on the road from Bologna back to Florence. Moneylender Samuele Levi is escorted by Cesare Aldo, an officer of the Otto di Guardia e Balia.
The Otto was a criminal court that had authority over major crimes, could transfer cases to other courts, review sentences, and had administrative control over police and prisons. Other courts and tribunals were less powerful. You can read more about the Otto here. It will give you a sense of the working relationships between the Otto and other institutions of that time.
Levi had requested protection. He would be traveling with large sums of money and he had received death threats. On the road back to Florence, they are indeed attacked but both survive. Aldo safely delivers Levi back home. However, a few hours later Levi is stabbed to death inside his home. He is found in a large pool of blood. There are bloody prints leading away from the body. Aldo promises Levi’s daughter Rebecca that he will find out who killed her father.
This is not the only investigation in the book. One of the Otto’s constables, Carlo Strocchi, is investigating the beating death of a male prostitute called Luca Corsini. Corsini was dressed in a gorgeous gown when he was found. Who gave it to him? Corsini had been beaten to death by two men. To top this off, Corsini had kept a diary of his male friends with nicknames, sketches, and details about their work. In the wrong hands, that diary could be a dangerous weapon. Being gay at the time, was punishable by death often preceded by horrendous torture.
While these investigations are ongoing, Bishop adds the power struggles of the wealthy in Florence. The merchants, de Medici family, those who would like to see de Medici removed from power, and even within that family there’s unrest.
Bishop has woven a multi-layered plot with attention to the details of information gathering and connecting dots. The maturing of Strocchi as a man and as a constable is well done. He is young and, in many areas, naive. Aldo is older, a professional, a former soldier, with a keen eye for deception. He has his working methods, his network, and his secrets. Corsini was one of his informants. And to give you insight into Aldo’s lifestyle, he lives in a bordello. His presence gives the women protection but as others suspect, there is more to it as Aldo does not show an interest in women.
The Darkest Sin
The second book by Bishop came out in 2022. You can read these as stand-alone books; however, you do miss the gradual changes in the main characters and the power struggles in Florence.
In the Darkest Sin, Aldo’s investigation centers on a dead body found inside a convent. The Abbess is the sister of a rich and powerful merchant. The internal power struggle between the Prioress and the Abbess center on the decision to close the convent to the public or not. Closing it also means that services such as supplying food, clothing, and medicine to the poor will stop.
The dead body intrigues Aldo in many ways. It is not a nun but a man. He is nude and has been stabbed over twenty times. How did he get in? Where is the knife? Why are there no defensive wounds? Aldo quickly sees the rage and fury this man must have provoked in his attacker. But what caused his death exactly? And something about the puddle of blood around him is strange. There is a lot more going on in this story but now, I wish to compare the books one and two.
Comparison
Both books by Bishop are strong in setting the scene, the time period, Florence, and how it was ruled then. We can see the streets the officers walk on, the building facades, and can smell the meat and fish markets. We learn that the river Arno was used as a dumping ground for fish and meat leftovers, ink, and anything else that needed hiding including bodies.
In book two, we see the deepening of character development. We already know that there is more to Cesare Aldo, a gay officer who, if found out, will be executed despite his stellar record as an investigator. This also makes him prone to extortion. We learn about his upbringing and how he weighs priorities. He knows the world is not black and white and does not hesitate to learn about gray areas.
Constable Carlo Strocchi is on his way to become an officer. He is young and has a simple view of the world. A murder must be solved and the perpetrator must be brought to justice. Self-defense or protecting someone else only come to mind when someone reminds him that circumstances and motive matter. In other words, if he investigates a case alone, he may be able to advance the case but only up to a point. What drove people to murder is part of the gray areas the young constable needs to explore and learn from if he ever wants to be an officer. Luckily, he gets help.
I saw online critique from those irritated by the occasional Italian word inserted in the text. Yes, they are curse words and yes, some describe genitals. How this is different from using the F-word and other English curse words, dazzles me. Agatha Christie inserted French words and partial sentences in her Hercule Poirot stories. Sophie Hannah does it in her Poirot books. If Bishop uses the occasional foreign language curse word, google it, and move on. If a foreign language takes over the story or changes the context, you have reason to object to this style of writing. There are online dictionaries, apps for translations, and really, the text is not flooded in non-English words.
Last, as far as story and plot goes, the first book is better than the second. The plot lines are better developed and the murders that take place are not just possible, they are all probable. They are straightforward in motive, opportunity, murder methods, and the number of people involved in each case. In book two, the plot is convoluted and the number of people involved improbable.
The story in book two has a great start that draws you in but soon after, just a few chapters in, you can guess the motive and the methods used. The opportunities unfold closer to the end as well as the number of people responsible for that crime. And that is a weak point.
On the plus side, in book two we meet Aldo’s family and see a deeper character development for both Aldo and Strocchi and their working relationship. Both are struggling with their conscious while trying to weigh what matters more: doing what is right or what is easy. What is justice in each investigation? Is it served when all the rules are followed or does it just close the case? And then, can you accept the results and live with those consequences?
There is a lot more to talk about in these two books. For example, we have not touched on the power struggles in the Medici family, Aldo in prison, love interests, or the death of another Otto officer. You need to explore that yourself.
I look forward to further books by D.V. Bishop. If you like historical fiction, Italy, Florence, and you do not mind googling an Italian word every now and then, this series is for you.
Highly recommended.
My other book reviews are here.