Magdalen Nabb Books In Order

Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery Books In Publication Order

  1. Death of an Englishman (1981)
  2. Death of a Dutchman (1981)
  3. Death in Springtime (1983)
  4. Death in Autumn (1985)
  5. The Marshal and the Murderer (1987)
  6. The Marshal and the Madwoman (1988)
  7. The Marshal’s Own Case (1990)
  8. The Marshal Makes His Report (1992)
  9. The Marshal at the Villa Torrini (1993)
  10. The Monster of Florence / The Marshal and the Forgery (1996)
  11. Property of Blood (1999)
  12. Some Bitter Taste (2002)
  13. The Innocent (2005)
  14. Vita Nuova (2008)

Josie Smith Books In Publication Order

  1. Josie Smith in Autumn (1901)
  2. Josie Smith (1989)
  3. Josie Smith at School (1990)
  4. Josie Smith At The Seaside / Seashore (1990)
  5. Josie Smith and Eileen (1991)
  6. Josie Smith at Christmas (1994)
  7. Josie Smith At The Market (1995)
  8. Josie Smith in Hospital (1995)
  9. Josie Smith in Winter (1999)
  10. Josie Smith in Spring (2000)
  11. Josie Smith in Summer (2000)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. The Prosecutor (1986)
  2. The Enchanted Horse (1992)
  3. Twilight Ghost (2000)

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Magdalen Nabb Books Overview

Death of an Englishman

The debut of Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Carabinieri, a Sicilian, stationed in Florence.

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.

In addition to the wonderful atmosphere of Florence, Magdalen Nabb has created a delightful investigator who has been described as ‘the most Maigret like of contemporary policemen’ by the Times Literary Supplement.

Death of a Dutchman

Praise for the Marshal Guarnaccia series: This elegant series, which began in 1981 with Death of an Englishman…
is set in Florence, a city that glows in the Tuscan sun…
. His sense of estrangement accounts for Guarnaccia’s special perspective on strangers, those innocents among the living and the dead. The New York Times Book Review Lean, elegant prose that surpas*ses the best of Simenon, along with a puckish view of the Florentines from Guarnaccia s Sicilian perspective. Kirkus Reviews The richest mystery here, however, is Florence itself, whose intricate politics and class structure Nabb parses with precision and wit. The Washington Post Great local atmosphere and rich characterizations. Publishers Weekly A superb series…
. A working man s Maigret. Booklist Crime fiction at its best. The Sunday Times London Guarnaccia s Florence is a delightful place to visit. Mystery Scene 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? Magdalen Nabb was born in Lancashire. She has lived in Florence since 1975 and has written twelve Marshal Guarnaccia mysteries. This is the second in the series.

Death in Springtime

Praise for Magdalen Nabb:

‘The best mystery news in ages is that Soho is restoring to the canon Magdalen Nabb and her tremendous crea tion, Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Italian police in Florence.’ Chicago Tribune

‘First rate. Engrossing, artful, and completely satisfying. Nabb is a fine writer.’ Frank Conroy

‘Magdalen Nabb is so good she’s awesome.’ The Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Nabb is formidable.’ Houston Post

Everyone is so distracted by the phenomenon of a March snowfall in Florence that no one notices two foreign girls being abducted from the piazza at gunpoint in broad daylight. Even Marshal Guarnaccia has trouble piecing together what he has actually seen: tourists in a car holding up a big map, children going to school, a bus, a drug addict on the steps of Santo Spirito church, a single Sardinian bagpiper in a long, black shepherd’s cloak.

One of the girls, a Norwegian university student, turns up in Pontino, a village in the Chianti hills, where she is hospitalized for a concussion, a leg wound, and possible pneumonia. She says she has been released by the kidnappers so she can make contact. The other kidnap victim, an American girl, is being held for ransom. But the marshal thinks she’s lying.

Kidnapping has become a local racket. It is up to Marshal Guarnaccia to save the young American and put a stop to a flourishing criminal enterprise.

Death in Autumn

The body of a woman, clad only in a fur coat and jewelry, is found floating in the Arno at dawn. Marshal Guarnaccia of the Florentine carabinieri identifies her as a missing hotel guest. But how and why did she die? Was it a bizarre suicide? Or murder?

The Marshal and the Murderer

A young Swiss art student who commutes to a small town near Florence is reported missing. Then her body is found. Was it a sex crime? Guarnaccia suspects a local feud with its roots in World War II.

The Marshal and the Madwoman

Praise for Magdalen Nabb: ‘Every word should be savored.’ Washington Post Book World ‘The best mystery news in ages is that Soho is restoring to the canon Magdalen Nabb and her tremendous creation, Marshal Guarnaccia of the Italian Police in Florence.’ Chicago Tribune ‘Exquisite.’ The New York Times Book Review ‘Nabb continues to extend conventions of the police procedural to suit her own intriguing vision and purpose.’ Philadelphia Inquirer

The Marshal’s Own Case

The lore and mystique of male transvestite lifestyles in Florence…
. The marshal takes the case that no one wants, a situation underscoring the novel’s theme of unloved and troubled children. Publishers Weekly Among the genre s most appealing cops. Booklist Surpas*ses the best of Simenon. Kirkus Reviews The marshal must leave his snug world at the Pitti Palace to seek a criminal in the shadowy haunts of prostitutes, pimps, and tricks. No one believes that he can navigate in this milieu, much less identify a killer, but once again he confounds their expectations.

The Marshal Makes His Report

Praise for Magdalen Nabb: The exquisite sensibility of Magdalen Nabb’s police procedurals has all to do with the feeling of displacement that haunts her sensitively observed characters. The New York Times Book Review Elegant in style and elegant in mind. Publishers Weekly starred review The suspicious looking suicide of the husband of the Marchesa, a member of one of Florence s oldest families, has the marshal once again refusing to accept the easy answer. Magdalen Nabb was born and educated in England. She lived and wrote in Florence, where she died on August 18, 2007.

The Marshal at the Villa Torrini

Praise for the Marshal Guarnaccia series: The exquisite sensibility of Magdalen Nabb’s police procedurals has all to do with the feeling of displacement that haunts her sensitively observed characters. The New York Times Book Review A well known writer is found dead in the Villa Torrini near Florence without a mark of violence on her. Marshal Guarnaccia of the carabinieri must solve the mystery while struggling with a new legal system and a strict diet. Magdalen Nabb was born and educated in England. She lived and wrote in Florence, where she died in August 2007.

Property of Blood

Marshal Guarnaccia is faced with the horrendous kidnapping for ransom of a lovely Contessa whose life is in his hands. Olivia, an American born model, married Count Ugo Brunamonti, a feckless, soon impoverished aristocrat. After his death, she supported her children Leonardo and Caterina by starting a fashion house which has prospered. When she is kidnapped, the crime is reported to Marshal Guarnaccia by her daughter, who may have been the intended victim. Kidnapping is almost a second business for the Sardinians nominally engaged in raising sheep in the Tuscan hills. They inhabit a vast wilderness where a victim can be hidden away forever, and where those searching for her will be quickly spotted. The government’s official policy is not to permit the payment of ransom. But if the money isn’t paid, the kidnappers cannot let their victim go free. It would set a bad example. In this case, Guarnaccia suspects another problem. Can it be that her children are unwilling to pay the ransom? Is this more than a random crime?

Some Bitter Taste

Sara Hirsch is a nervous elderly spinster who still lives in the flat above a long established Florentine antiquities shop in which she was raised. Frightened, she calls on the marshal for help, sure that strangers have been in her apartment. The marshal knows she is a lonely old woman but he is preoccupied with an investigation into an Albanian prostitution ring. Before he can respond to her latest alarm, she is found dead.

The marshal’s search for the villains brings him into confrontation with the past, with Jewish refugees from fascism, and with English expatriates including the ailing heir to the elegant Villa L’Uliveto, Sir Christopher Wrothesly.

The Innocent

Praise for the Marshal Guarnaccia series: ‘It takes a writer as good as Magdalen Nabb to remind us how subtle the art of the mystery can be…
. Nabb has Simenon’s knack.’ The New York Times Book Review ‘Nabb’s uncanny portrayal of Florence, its pace, scents, sounds, the rhythm of its language…
is so vivid.’ The Boston Globe ‘If you didn’t make it to Florence this summer, don’t despair. It was probably too crowded anyway and there’s a new Marshal Guarnaccia investigation to keep you abreast of the sights, smells, tastes, and traffic problems of that great Italian city.’ Chicago Tribune ‘There is no other series quite like the Guarnaccia stories…
in their moody charms…
. His tender heart casts a wide net; people trust him, talk to him, seem to feel he is more prescient than he knows he is. The result is a narrative in which the marshal serves as a mirror to the world around him.’ The Washington Post Book World ‘Strongly recommended for readers who like sophisticated, literate mysteries in foreign settings.’ Library Journal 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 woman cannot be identified; only her skull remains. The marshal must use her clothing and a shoe to trace her. She turns out to be a young Japanese woman apprenticed to one of Florence’s legendary custom shoemakers, crotchety old Peruzzi. Could he have killed his prot g ? 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 go to Rome to complete his investigation. When he returns to Florence he can identify the killer, but can he bring him to justice?

Vita Nuova

‘A final reminder of why Nabb is irreplaceable among English speaking novelists who write mysteries with Italian locales. Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Nabb’s books display all the rich prose and quirky characters that Christie was famous for. BookPage

The world of crime fiction is poorer for the loss of Magdalen Nabb. The Boston Phoenix

Charming…
. Lovely. Rocky Mountain News

If you didn t make it to Florence this summer, don t despair…
. There s a new Marshal Guarnaccia investigation. Chicago Tribune

Surpas*ses the best of Simenon. Kirkus Reviews

There is no other series quite like the Guarnaccia stories. The Washington Post Book World

Daniela is a quiet single mother studying for a doctorate in chemistry. She rarely goes out, so her murder in her bedroom at the family s new villa seems inexplicable. It is true that her mother, who appears to be an alcoholic; her younger sister, who has had mental problems; and her father, who has made his money running nightclubs and is probably involved in the international sex trade, are not your average home loving Italian nuclear family, but what can she have done to be singled out for slaughter? And why has the prosecutor asked specifically for Marshal Guarnaccia to head the investigation?

This is the fourteenth book in this acclaimed series. Magdalen Nabb, who was born and educated in England, lived and wrote in Florence, where she died on August 18, 2007.

The Enchanted Horse

A lonely young girl living on a remote farm with her work obsessed parents cares for an old and battered wooden horse with such devotion that it comes to life.

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