Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
FIVE STRANGERS IN FLORENCE, EACH WITH A DANGEROUS SECRET. AND AN APOCALYPTIC FLOOD THREATENING TO REVEAL EVERYTHING.
A wife on the run, a student searching for stolen art, a cleaner who has lined more than his pockets, a policeman whose career is almost over, and a guest who should never have received a wedding invite. Five strangers, entangled in the forger’s wicked web.
In a race against time, and desperate to save themselves and all they hold dear, will their secrets prove more treacherous than the ominous floodwaters swallowing the historic city?
Dive into a world of lies and deceit, where nothing is as it seems on the surface…
In the past, Auckland antiques dealer turned author Kirsten McKenzie has entertained readers around the world with tales ranging from historical time-slips to dark thrillers and horrors laced with the supernatural. In a way, she brings many of those ingredients together in her latest novel, an historical mystery set against apocalyptic floods in Florence, Italy in the late 1960s.
As the River Arno surges dangerously, the lives of five troubled strangers entwine in an historic city that is globally renowned for its art yet is still recovering in some ways from the war two decades before. Rhonda is a wife on the run, Helena is an art student hoping to recover family treasures, Richard is an unwelcome wedding guest, Stefano is a janitor at a famous art gallery, and Antonio is a jaded local policemen struggling with managing his own life let alone criminal investigations.
McKenzie creates plenty of momentum as readers shift perspective from one character to another – as well as the thoughts of the raging river itself as it bears down on Florence. Lies and treachery abound.
In THE FORGER AND THE THIEF it is the characters who are the heart of the tale more than various crimes that occur. But few if any of those we visit with are particularly likable. Coupled with the dramatic events, betrayals, and some rapid emotional shifts this sometimes gives the story a bit of a soap operatic or telenovela type of feel. There is plenty going on throughout, and McKenzie shines brightest in her rich evocation and vivid detail of time and place.
Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer from New Zealand, now living in London. In recent years he’s interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at books festivals on three continents. He has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards and the McIlvanney Prize, and is founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and co-founder of Rotorua Noir. His first non-fiction book, SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, was published in 2020. You can heckle him on Twitter.
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