An Enigma by the Sea

A series of mysterious disappearances in Tuscany drive this slow but satisfying crime novel from Fruttero and Lucentini (Runaway Horses). In a prologue, the 20-month-old son of a British tourist goes missing in the beachside town of Gualdana, then is swiftly reunited with his family. A year later, four more tourists vanish in the same area, and it turns out most of them were involved in a car accident the day before they disappeared. When the body of one of the missing people washes ashore, seasonal Gualdana resident and Italian Parliament member Giampaolo Bonanno considers it an accident, though not everyone agrees. Gabriele Monforti, a former businessman who’s trapped in a “tunnel of depression,” is unconvinced and fashions himself into an amateur sleuth in an effort to give his life some much needed direction. As Monforti investigates, the authors take their time unraveling the core mystery, injecting the action with discursive passages that, for example, explore Monforti’s attraction to the Cynic school of philosophy. Such tangents, while idiosyncratic, serve to deepen readers’ understanding of the characters considerably. Donna Leon devotees will be pleased. (Apr.)