On a freezing November night Commissioner Alec Blume is called to the scene of a shooting. The victim is Sofia Fontana, the sole witness to a previous killing. Blume's enquiries lead from a professor with a passion for the art of memory to a hospitalised ex-terrorist whose injuries have left her mind innocently blank; from present day Rome's criminal underclass, to a murderous train station bombing in central Italy several decades ago. Against the advice of his bosses and his own better judgement, Blume is drawn ever deeper into the case, which looks set to derail his troubled relationship with Caterina...
Editorial Review
Fitzgerald's terse but lyrical style is perfectly suited to evoking the poisonously claustrophobic atmosphere in which Blume operates, and contributes handsomely to an excellent police procedural * Irish Times * Alec Blume is an inspired creation. An American who has become a commissioner in the Italian police, he's a sly, sardonic loner who gives the impression of knowing Rome better than its natives. [...] Fitzgerald is an elegant, visual writer * Guardian * The American-born Blume is an engaging hero who might just have to potential to fill the gap left when Michael Dibdin's death ended his Italian detective Aurelio Zen's investigations * The Sunday Times * I'm putting my money on Alec Blume becoming the most popular detective of the coming decade * Belfast Telegraph *
About the Author
Conor Fitzgerald has lived in Ireland, the UK, the United States and Italy. He has worked as an arts editor, produced a current affairs journal for foreign embassies based in Rome, and founded a successful translation company. He is married with two children and lives in Rome. The Memory Key is the fourth in his series of Italian Crime novels.