Well over a hundred years ago a Nice newspaper reported that violent deaths were almost never allowed to happen in Monaco. The bodies of suicides or murder victims were discreetly dumped across the frontier in France. Not so long ago local gossip had it that a woman who jumped off a rooftop had “bounced” to a convenient distance beyond the Prince’s jurisdiction. Such a practice would have put a stop to this brick-thick narrative of mayhem below the Rock by Giorgio Faletti. Who he, you say? Italy’s leading writer of crime fiction, it seems, and this book I Kill (Italy: Baldino Castoldi Dalai) is his top seller, translated into over twenty languages, including Chinese and Japanese. No US or UK publisher showed any interest, though, and now the English version of Io Uccido has been brought out by its Italian publisher, convinced of its appeal to an anglophone readership.

To summarise Faletti’s plot in detail would be to spoil the reader’s enjoyment. Briefly, a psychopathic killer takes to knocking off celebs in Monaco, skinning their faces to add a particular touch of horror to his crimes. He offers a coded announcement of his chosen victims by calling in to a Radio Monte-Carlo talk show. He is tracked down by a Monegasque police inspector (oddly given the name Nicolas Hulot, that of a well-known French environmentalist and TV presenter) together with Frank Ottobre, a messed up FBI agent on compassionate leave. There’s a subplot involving a nasty American general and his equally nasty ADC which allows for a love interest to develop (the fibbie and the general’s daughter). The book’s well plotted and for most of its 597 pages holds the attention although this begins to flag towards the end, once the killer has been nabbed (his identity is a fine twist). The team translation (by Americans, I fancy) is fluent, if a trifle lifeless, and some of Faletti’s Italianate floridities don’t travel well: “On Boulevard des Moulins the brightly lit shops hold promises like those in the eyes of high-class prostitutes” (never noticed that, myself). There’s quite a lot of local detail to please those who know their Monaco and even a spot of product placement: “Stars ’n Bars ... a mandatory stop.” In short – a good read.

From Riviera Reporter Issue 131: Feb/March 2009

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