Requiem in La Rossa by Tom Benjamin
Requiem in La Rossa is the third in Tom Benjamin’s critically-acclaimed Bologna-set series featuring British private detective Daniel Leicester.
In the sweltering heat of a Bologna summer, a murderer plans their pièce de résistance...
Only in Bologna reads the headline in the Carlino after a professor of music is apparently murdered leaving the opera. But what looks like an open-and-shut case begins to fall apart when English detective Daniel Leicester is tasked with getting the accused man off, and a trail that begins among Bologna's close-knit classical music community leads him to suspect there may be a serial killer at large in the oldest university in the world.
About the author
Tom Benjamin grew up in the suburbs of north London and began his working life as a journalist before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He later moved into public health, where he led drugs awareness programme FRANK. He now lives in Bologna.
Review
‘Requiem in La Rossa’ was a delight to read! It was extremely well-plotted, created a great sense of location in the beautiful city of Bologna and had a protagonist that you can't help but fall in love with. This is the third book in ‘The English Detective’ series but it can be read as a standalone. I haven't read the previous two books and I found I was able to immerse myself into the plot very easily. I will be picking up the previous two books though - ‘The Hunting Season’ and ‘A Quiet Death in Italy’ - as I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Thankfully, we aren't too far into the series as I do like to catch up when possible!
There is something about Italy that just captures the heart and this book shows the love of Bologna all the way through. I feel as if I know so much about this city now - I love when an author combines the history of the location into a narrative. You can find some academic references about the Sisters in the Afterword and I will be looking into the history behind the inspiration for the novel. It is clear that the author is writing from their love of their home city and this makes for an authentic read.
Despite a great storyline what made this book was a fabulous roster of characters that didn't conform to the normal private detective tropes of a troubled main character etc. What we get is a rounded specimen in Daniel - a loving father, a great colleague and a man full of integrity with an inner core of wanting justice for those that need it. Yes, he may break into a few places since he is a locksmith but hell who doesn't do that in crime fiction?!
Overall, despite the horrible narrative, this was a book that radiates warmth, hope and love and I fell hard for the characters. It wasn't a series I was aware of and I will be putting on my other hat of indie bookseller and listing them on the site!
I am looking forward to the next outing! Bring it on.
