The Murdered Banker

Augusto De Angelis and the Italian classic whodunits were a big black void in my crime reading list. Written in 1935, it is the first of Inspector De Vincenzi novels. Set in Milan, De Vincenzi has to solve the murder of a banker, while everything points at his childhood friend being the culprit. There are not a lot of suspects and the personal information that we glean from the Inspector is not plentiful (other than he likes to read - which makes me like him!). It's the ambiance and descriptions that make this such a thrilling read. The resolution was also unexpected. De Angelis was murdered himself when Mussolini's fascist followers gave him a beating. Too sad. But there are more volumes in this series and I will be adding them all to my TBR list. I highly recommend this for fans of the classic whodunit.

An old friend is suspected to have murdered a banker to whom he owed a large sum. But Milan Inspector De Vincenzi believes in the innocence of his friend and soon has to cope with more people confessing the crime than he can wish for. Yet, as matters stand, none of the confessors has committed the deed, albeit they all have a motive. The murderer is somebody else, but how can he be revealed?

Augusto DeAngelis' crime novel is a classic story solved by clever observation and deduction and in no need of modern technology. This makes it very appealing and fun to read because together with the inspector one can put the pieces together and thus solve the riddle. The way it is constructed reminded me of the classics of the genre by Agatha Christie and therefore I liked it immediately. As a plus, the slightly depressing and dark mood of Milan in fog was transported by the story and fit very well to the plot.

Thank you Net galley. A beautiful old-fashioned murder mystery without the modern trend for fancy forensics. Enjoyed working out the puzzle as i read. Highly recommended.

I was introduced to this classic Italian murder mystery (written in 1935) by NetGalley (in exchange for a candid review).

The book notes mentioned that the author was the "father of the Italian mystery story" and I am so happy to have this belated introduction to Augusto De Angelis. I loved the introspective detective and the contemplative pace of the book. Everything takes place within a very short period of time (maybe 48 hours) but it is never rushed.

Unlike other European mystery writers, De Angelis doesn't convey a sense of place. We don't get to know the city, or its food, but the characters are well developed and get into your head. This was a smart, satisfying story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Murdered Banker was first published in Italian in 1935. It is reminiscent of Agatha Christie-type mysteries, and was translated to English in 2016. When a body is discovered in the apartment of Inspector De Vincenzi’s friend, Giannetto Aurigi, De Vincenzi is assigned to investigate the case. The night of the murder, Aurigi left the theater early, and visited his friend at the police station, unaware that there was a body in his apartment. Unfortunately, all of the evidence points to Aurigi, however, and De Vincenzi, must find the real murderer before his friend is convicted.

While many books that have been translated from a foreign language are difficult, the translation in this book is quite good, and it is easy to understand. The Italian culture is evident in the story, and while some of the procedures in investigating a case are different from those used in America, De Vincenzi does solve the case judiciously using common sense and clever practices. De Vincenzi isn’t a particularly likeable character; he is abrupt and pushy, and very European. At first readers will wonder just how good this negative character can be. As the story evolves, however, De Vincenzi becomes more pleasant, and since this is the first of two in the series, that will be a good reason to read the subsequent novel.

The book is clean, there is no graphic violence or sex, and the story is good. For readers who enjoy foreign suspense novels, this book is one that will most likely be enjoyed.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying an advanced review copy of this book.

This is the first outing for Inspector De Vincenzi, De Angelis' 1930s Milan-based detective and is a short introduction. Written in the 1930s and authentically Italian this is a wonderful example of classic writing from the golden era of detectives.

I had never heard of Augusto De Angelis before and would have been reluctant to read him but for two reason - I had run out of Andrea Camilleri's Sicilian Inspector Montalbano novels to read and I had been generally impressed by some of the books the publisher, Pushkin Vertigo, has recently published. I am glad I gave Inspector De Vincenzi a try and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Milan in the 30s. I suppose many people will liken this book to something like Simenon's Inspector Maigret in Paris as a sort of short-hand and that is actually very high praise. I hope there are more books to come in this series.