New Releases by Magdalen Nabb

Etwas Vernünftiges soll sich Irina zu Weihnachten wünschen. Doch sie will unbedingt das alte Spielzeugpferd aus dem Trödelladen und nennt es Bella. Ihre Eltern schütteln nur den Kopf, als sie Bella versorgt wie ein richtiges Pferd. Sie wissen natürlich nicht, daß Bella verzaubert ist und Irinas Leben von Grund auf verändern wird.

A little toy horse is about to change Irina’s life forever. Award-winning classic young fiction, beautifully illustrated.

Florenz, kurz vor Weihnachten: Wachtmeister Guarnaccia brennt darauf, nach Sizilien zu seiner Familie zu kommen, doch da geschieht ein Mord. Betrug und gestohlene Kunstschätze kommen ans Licht, aber sie sind nur der Hintergrund zu einer privaten Tragödie. Zuletzt kommt der Wachtmeister (wenn auch eher unwillig) dem Mörder auf die Spur u00ad und an Heiligabend gerade noch den letzten Zug nach Syrakus erwischt.

Based on a chilling true crime, The Monster of Florence follows the reopening of a cold case—a serial killer who targeted unmarried couples and terrorized Florence for two decades. Marshal Guarnaccia''s job with the carabinieri—the local Florentine police—usually involves restoring stolen handbags to grateful old ladies and lost cameras to bewildered tourists. So when he is assigned to work with the police in trying to track down a vicious serial killer, he feels out of his league. To make matters worse, the Proc he must report to is Simonetti, the same man he knows drove an innocent man to suicide several years earlier in his blind quest for a conviction. The Marshal can''t let the stress of the case get to him if he wants to make sure justice is upheld.

A prominent writer is found dead in the Villa Torrini outside of Florence without any marks of physical harm on her. Her husband, who was heavily intoxicated in the next room, is exhibiting signs of guilt, but the carabinieri are having trouble finding concrete evidence against him. Marshal Guarnaccia, who is already struggling with a strict diet and the intricacies of a new legal system, has little faith in his own ability to solve the case, but his intuition turns out to be invaluable.

A Florence, dans le décor majestueux des jardins Boboli, le corps d''une inconnue est retrouvé au fond d''un bassin, parmi les jacinthes d''eau et les poissons rouges. A première vue, le meurtre de cette jeune fille venue apprendre le métier de bottier dans la cité florentine semble banal. Pourtant, l''adjudant Guarnaccia avance prudemment, car c''est auprès de ses voisins et amis, artisans florentins au verbe haut et aux colères théâtrales qu''il doit enquêter. Et très vite, les bouches se font muettes... Entre l''ancestrale omerta et une violence bien moderne se révèle une société en clair-obscur où le crime fleurit sans vergogne sous l''implacable soleil d''Italie.

The eighth Marshal Guarnaccia investigation A member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in Florence is dead. When Marshal Guarnaccia arrives at the scene, in the courtyard of the crumbling Palazzo Ulderighi, he knows instinctively that something is amiss. The evidence suggests suicide, the family—including the victim’s wife, the financially troubled Marchesa Ulderighi—insists it was an accident, and the Marshal suspects something far more malevolent. While mounting an investigation against the Florentine elite means putting his very career on the line, Marshal Guarnaccia remains determined to see justice done.

When Marshal Guarnaccia is called upon to investigate the murder of a young woman, suspicions arise as to the motive. Guarnaccia is convinced that there''s more to the family than first appears, and wonders if the girl''s father, Paoletti, might have had something to do with her deatha Enlisting the help of a local journalist, Marshal Guarnaccia''s investigations draw him into the seedy underworld of Florence - lap dancing, prostitution and the illegal, human trafficking of Eastern European women who are sold into the sex trade. But can he save these women before it''s too late and what do they have to do with the killing of Daniela Paoletti? Distracted by the plight of these women and the murder investigation, Guarnaccia forgets about his own personal problems but it''s not long before he has choices to make - should he seek help and risk exposing himself and possibly losing his job, or should he go it alone?

Word count 14,815

“The richest mystery here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit." —Washington Post Book World Summoned by an aged woman to investigate mysterious noises in the vacant flat next to hers, Marshal Guarnaccia discovers a dying Dutch jeweler. The old lady had known him when he was a boy growing up in Florence. Could he have returned to the family home just to commit suicide? Or could the man be the victim of a cunning murderer?

The thirteenth Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation The body of a woman has been found half-submerged in an ornamental fish pond high up in Florence’s Boboli Gardens. At first, the corpse cannot be identified, rendered unrecognizable by feeding fish, but the Marshal traces other clues to find answers. The victim was a young Japanese woman apprenticed to one of Florence’s legendary custom shoemakers, crotchety old Peruzzi. Could he have killed his protégé? Or did jealousy drive his other apprentice to murder? The neighbors have seen Akiko with a lover—a brilliant young carabinieri—who has disappeared. Has he fled to avoid arrest? The marshal must travel to Rome to complete his investigation.

Que s''est-il passé dans le cadre bucolique de l''opulente villa Torrini, à Florence ? Une romancière, Celia Forbes, y est retrouvée morte dans sa baignoire... Tandis que son mari, le premier suspect, gît ivre mais bien vivant dans la pièce à côté... Appelé sur les lieux, l''adjudant Guarnaccia flaire immédiatement une histoire bien moins simple qu''il n''y paraît. Querelle de couple ? Overdose de somnifères ? L''inimitable et le plus célèbre des détectives florentins mène l''enquête à sa manière, avec calme et obstination, sous la plume de la plus italienne des auteurs anglais. Mais l''adjudant aura fort à faire, entre deux épuisantes vieilles dames, le rusé substitut du procureur... et un régime prescrit par sa femme qui le rend terriblement morose.

Italian law forbids paying ransom to criminals, and Marshal Guarnaccia must find the missing girl before her kidnappers decide to end her life. Two foreign girls are abducted from a Florence piazza in broad daylight. The unusual March snowfall has distracted everyone, even the marshal, who is unsure of what he has actually witnessed. One of the girls turns up in a village in the Chianti, claiming the kidnappers have released her to propose a ransom for the other victim. But the marshal thinks she’s lying.

L''adjudant Guarnaccia assiste à la fête du Calcio Storico de Florence, lorsqu''il est entraîné par un étrange personnage jusqu''à une porte menant dans la tour d''un palais. Dans l''une des salles gît le cadavre de son maître, l''époux de la célèbre marquise Ulderighi. Suicide ? Meurtre ? Ou simple accident ? Tous les occupants de la noble demeure, la marquise en tête, aspirent à une conclusion rapide de l''enquête et notre adjudant aurait tout intérêt à valider la thèse de l''accident. Mais l''atmosphère pesante des lieux et la personnalité de ses habitants attirent vite les soupçons de Guarnaccia. Car même s''il risque sa carrière en l''affirmant, il est convaincu que le palais séculaire a été le théâtre d''un acte criminel.

The Twelfth Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation When an elderly woman drops by the Florentine carabinieri to complain that someone broke in to her apartment while she was out, Marshal Guarnaccia listens patiently, offers advice, and vows to pay her a visit. But before he can keep his promise, Miss Hirsch is found dead, her throat cut. She wasn’t the only person to come to the Marshal for help in recent days. There’s also a young Albanian prostitute, who wants his help to stay out of prison, and a wealthy foreign robbery victim whose case the captain is quick to prioritize. The Marshal has his hands full, and his best efforts may not be enough to stop a murderer

Out giving his wife driving lessons, Marshal Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri witnesses a disturbance in the streets involving a local eccentric, “crazy Clementina.” When the woman is found dead in her apartment soon after the incident of an apparent suicide, the marshal is puzzled and immediately suspects foul play. But who would have a motive to kill her? As the marshal dives into the case and reconstructs Clementina’s tragic past, his investigation dredges up the events surrounding a disastrous flood some twenty years earlier and a controversial piece of legislation with profound effects on the lives of Italy’s mentally unstable residents.

A young Swiss art student has been reported missing, and Marshal Guarnaccia must travel to the small town where she was studying to find out the truth about her disappearance. When her body is found, it appears that she was the victim of a sex-related crime. But Guarnaccia—who comes from a small town himself—suspects that a local feud with roots in the horrors and betrayals of World War II may play an important part in the solution to the crime.

The body of a woman, clad in nothing but a fur coat and jewelry, is found floating in the Arno at dawn. Marshal Guarnaccia of the Florentine carabinieri identifies her as a foreigner who lived for years as a recluse in one of Florence’s most respectable hotels. But how and why did she die? Following a complex trail of blackmail, jewel theft, and drug-dealing, Marshal Guarnaccia finally tracks down the shocking truths about a cold-blooded murderer and his all-too-trusting victim.

It is just before Christmas and the marshal wants to go South to spend the holiday with his wife and family, but first he must recover from the flu (which has left the Florentine caribinieri short-handed) and also solve a murder. A seemingly respectable retired Englishman, living in a flat on the Via Maggio near the Santa Trinita bridge, was shot in the back during the night. He was well-connected and Scotland Yard has despatched two officers to "assist" the Italians in solving the crime. But it is the marshal, a quiet observer, not an intellectual, who manages to figure out what happened, and why.

The American-born founder of a prominent fashion house, Contessa Olivia Brunamonti, is mistaken for her daughter and kidnapped by a group of Sardinian shepherds. They’re holding her deep in the Tuscan hills and have demanded a huge sum for her return. Her daughter failed to report the incident for over a week, and the family’s assets have been frozen by an Italian government that forbids paying ransom. But the kidnappers can’t release their victim without being paid—it would set a bad precedent. And Guarnaccia suspects another problem: Could it be that Olivia’s children don’t want to save their mother? Is this more than just a random crime?

Elizabeth Stauffer, jeune enseignante suisse de passage à Florence pour y perfectionner son italien, se présente au poste de garde des carabiniers afin de signaler la disparition de son amie et colocataire Monica Heer. Reçue par l''adjudant Guarnaccia, elle lui relate ses derniers faits et gestes. Pensant un temps que Monica s''est volontairement volatilisée à la suite d''un canular, l''insistance d''Elizabeth persuade Guarnaccia de se lancer à sa recherche. Son enquête le conduit dans un petit village de Toscane, dans la région des fâienceries, où Monica, qui s''était prise de passion pour la poterie, se rendait régulièrement. Accueilli par le silence collectif et hostile des villageois, Guarnaccia pressent qu''un mystère plus grand et plus terrible se cache derrière cette affaire. Il est encore loin de se douter qu''il va mettre au jour des secrets liés à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale et aux heures sombres et troublées du régime mussolinien.

" Quel plaisir de se promener en votre compagnie à travers les rues de Florence, avec leurs carabiniers, artisans, trattorias, et même leurs turbulents touristes. Tout est si vivant ; les bruits sont audibles, les odeurs aussi perceptibles que la légère brume matinale sur le cours alerte de l''Arno ; jusqu''aux collines basses, où les bergers sardes, leurs traditions et leur mode de vie quasi inchangé, sont tout aussi habilement dépeints. Que ne donnerait-on pas pour goûter à leur ricotta ! [...] C''est un roman à déguster, encore plus que ses deux prédécesseurs. C''est la première fois que je vois le thème du kidnapping traité de façon si simple et si plausible. [...] Bravissimo ! Vous avez tenu votre promesse au-delà de toute espérance. " Georges Simenon, lettre à l''auteur.

Un petit matin brumeux, des plongeurs sortent de l''Arno le cadavre d''une quinquagénaire avec, pour seul vêtement, un manteau de fourrure. Suicide ou homicide ? Et surtout, qui est-elle ? L''adjudant Guarnaccia parvient à répondre à cette question, mais cela ne fait qu''épaissir le mystère. Tous ceux qui ont connu Hilde Vogel affirment qu''elle vivait quasiment en recluse. En revanche, ils n''étaient pas au courant de son étrange relation avec un portier d''hôtel, de l''existence d''une villa à la campagne qu''elle louait à des jeunes gens, de ses voyages à l''étranger ou encore de ses comptes en Suisse. Personne n''a envie de s''occuper de ce dossier sordide, surnommé par les hommes du capitaine Maestrangelo l''" affaire de l''étrangère en fourrure ". " L''adjudant Guarnaccia est italien, florentin même, corpulent, gastronome, effacé, lugubre et complexé... ce qui ne l''empêche nullement de se révéler comme un enquêteur hors pair dans une ville pavée de mauvaises intentions. " J. Rémy, Le Bien public

Aidé par les Frères de la Miséricorde venus porter les premiers secours, le prêtre de la paroisse Santo Spirito donne l''extrême-onction au jeune orfèvre Toni. Et, bien que l''unité de soins médicaux accourue sur place ait tenté de le ranimer, le jeune homme meurt en prononçant ces paroles énigmatiques : "Ce n''était pas elle." Au terme d''investigations méticuleuses dignes du commissaire Maigret, Guarnaccia, accumulant les indices démontrant qu''il s''agit bien d''un meurtre, démasquera le criminel. Il donne aussi la preuve que Magdalen Nabb méritait bien le retentissant bravissimo que lui a décerné Georges Simenon !