The Marshal's Own Case: A Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery
Magdalen Nabb. Scribner Book Company, $17.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-684-19201-7
The lore and mystique of male transvestite lifestyles in Florence--wigs, silicone implants, makeup, gowns and, notably, confusions of gender in ``a culture dominated by men''--provide the interest in this competent mystery by the author of The Marshal and the Madwoman. As the novel opens, home-loving Marshal Guarnaccia, wife Teresa and small sons Toto and Giovanni, shopping for school supplies, rescue a lost child. Next, elderly Signora Fossi reports her missing adult son. Before long, grisly remains of the corpse of ``Lulu'' are found on a grassy riverbank. The Marshal takes the case that no one wants, a situation underscoring the novel's theme of unloved and troubled children. When Totoo is caught shoplifting a sweater, the problem of discontented youth hits close to the Guarnaccia home. Police interviews with men calling themselves Carla and Peppina afford sociological insights in a tale that proves more sobering than entertaining. (July)
Details
Reviewed on: 07/01/1990
Genre: Fiction
Hardcover - 978-0-517-09612-3
Hardcover - 242 pages - 978-0-7451-9933-7
Paperback - 176 pages - 978-0-14-014323-2
Paperback - 256 pages - 978-1-56947-531-7