An audio book.
Dan (an English widower living in Bologna with his 19 y.o. daughter Rose) goes on holiday with his boss/father-in-law Giovanni (a private investigator) and Rose's friend Delores, 29. They go south. They meet an ancient relative, Adolerata, who promptly dies having seen Rose. They meet an archelogy prof and his young helper Persefone. There's a local cave which is being excavated. The prof says that an anfora from the museum has been replaced by a fake. Is the Malvaggio (the local mafia) to blame? Giovanni investigates, checking with local dealers. He used to be a policeman there, and had solved a famous case - he'd literally smoke out an old lady poisoner from the village's network of tunnels. He visits the studio of a local artist - Cornelius. He's disappeared, leaving blood which has disappeared by the next day when the police visit. There's a broken virility statue of a local businessman, Diamante - is someone putting a curse on him to cause erectile dysfunction? There are historical interludes - about Padre Pio; about how old relics have a certificated chain of provenance, like racehorses; the "male bottleneck" - a time when there were far fewer males than females.
The prof going missing. Grasso is killed minutes after giving Dan and Giovanni info. Dan sees who did it - someone who knows a local female teacher. He tells the police before he realises that being a witness of a mafia killing put him and his family at risk. They find the prof chained in a farmhouse where there's illegal betting. Persefone invites him to her house. They have sex. When he awakes, he's in handcuffs and his car has gone. He releases himself. A sex game? Rose and Delores have hardly been mentioned. Now Rose is missing. The streets are packed - a religious procession with hooded people and random fireworks. He's chased by a hooded person with a knife. He kills in self-defence. It's the female teacher. He's arrested, released. He and Giovanni explore the caves. They find a coven - a circle of cadavars and women. For decades, women have been killing men who've been bad to women. Adolerata was a leader. Rose is next in line. She's told to kill Giovanni (the poisoner had been part of the coven) otherwise Dan would be killed. They escape. There is no Malvaggio - it was a rumour the women concocted to keep the mafia away. But now the real mafia were infiltrating. The prof had been selling off relics to pay off his gambling debts, replacing them in the museum with fakes.
I think you'll need to enjoy reading about history and Italian culture to enjoy this book. Fortunately, I do. But I'm not so keen on "blood visibly dripped from the handle of her knife". Visibly?
