By My Hand

The Christmas of Commissario Ricciardi: The Commissario Ricciardi Series, Book 5

De: Maurizio de Giovanni

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

Maurizio de Giovanni presents By My Hand, the fifth book in the critically acclaimed Commissario Ricciardi series.

As Naples prepares for its holiday celebrations, behind the facade of order and happiness imposed by the fascist regime lurks terrible poverty and blinding desperation. In a luxurious apartment on the Mergellina beach, the bodies of a fascist militia officer and his wife have been found. The woman's throat has been cut while the man has been stabbed over 60 times. Seemingly, the hands of two separate killers have been at work. A statuette of St. Joseph, patron saint of workers, lies in pieces on the floor.

At the scene of the crime, Ricciardi, who has the dubious gift of being able to see and hear the last seconds in the lives of those who have suffered violent deaths, listens to the enigmatic last words of the couple. Accompanied by his faithful partner, Brigadier Raffaele Maione - and once more troubled by two women who compete for his attentions - the commissario will have to trace a wide and frenetic arc through the streets of Naples in order to uncover the truth.

©2011 Giulio Einaudi Editore SpA, Torino. Translation © 2014 by Europa Editions (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Another terrific Commisario Ricciardi story!

The combination of of a Maurizio de Giovanni story read by Grover Gardner is absolutely irresistible. This entire series may be one of the best combinations in Audible book history. Highly recommended! The character development is outstanding, and the crime solution is very well done.

One Chapter too Long

A fine addition to the series of Ricciardi mysteries but I wish I had skipped the final chapter in which the author intrudes on the narrative.

I'm not an Audible regular

but I'm all in on this historical series set in 1930s Naples because of the superb narration by Grover Gardner. He is not merely a reader; he is a fine vocal actor who can speak Italian. The de Giovanni series (literature disguised as crime fiction) also is artfully translated. I have all of the Commissario Ricciardi Kindle books. (The covers aren't very attractive, but the books are gems.) After I read the first two I began augmenting them with narration. what a treat! it's like two scoops of gelato instead of one.

still good but

as the series wears on the author overplays his hand on the personal story lines (as opposed to the crime). he takes too many opportunities to stretch them out book after book.

Beautiful

The reader is excellent, the story compelling. The characters are well developed. This time I did not figure it out.

Possibly the Best Ricciardi Novel of the Entire Bunch!

Don’t miss the strange encounter between author and one of his own characters at the end of this typical De Giovanni masterpiece.

And let’s not overlook the extraordinarily smooth and literary translation by master wordsmith Tony Shugaar!