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Almost Blue

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Almost Blue

By: Carlo Lucarelli
Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
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About this listen

A serial killer is terrorising the people of Bologna, and rookie Detective Inspector Grazia Negro is determined to solve the case. She only has one witness who can identify the killer - and he is blind.

Simone spends his nights listening to Chet Baker and scanning the radio waves of the city, eavesdropping on other people's lives. He imagines what people are like - based on the 'colour' of their voice - and his acute hearing sets alarm bells ringing when he tunes in to the killer.

Together, Simone and Negro are the only people able to stop the killer, before he closes in on Simone.

From the diverse perspectives of the detective, the blind Simone and the killer, Lucarelli, master of Italian noir, weaves a gripping thriller.

©2003 Carlo Lucarelli (P)2010 Random House Audiobooks Crime Thrillers Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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Apart from the Maigret novels, this is the shortest book I’ve listened to for quite some time. It is set in Bologna in Italy, with a rookie detective in its serial killer team. She, and two men, are the central characters. The two men are a blind man who listens to scanners all the time (apart from when he’s listening to Chet Baker and similar jazz) and is a ‘witness’ because he can identify the killer’s voice; and the killer, named ‘the Iguana’ because he seems able change the way he looks. The rookie detective is subject to a level of sexist stereotyping from her colleagues.
I was confused at times by the two male characters. Because the story is pretty short the characters lack backstory and some depth, but it does offer a level of ‘punchiness’ to the progress of the plot, which contains some weird aspects. I’d go with the writer again, because he has some unusual traits. I shall see if Audible has anything else from Lucarelli.
The plot has some violent moments and one or two perhaps gory descriptions, but nothing is lingered over or very graphic. There may be moments that you may wish to rewind slightly to make sure you understood properly. There is a constant sense of threat because of the changing viewpoints, so this is no ‘cosy’ crime mystery. Noir is a reasonable description here, despite the descriptions offered by the blind man. I found this a good change of pace from much that I listen to, which I always look for and enjoy.

A brief but punchy noir novel with unusual viewpoints.

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