Last Castrato

By John Spencer Hill

Book Overview

"The corpse hung from the cross above the altar, its head slumped forward, its arms hooked crudely over the crosspiece like a pinioned fowl. The body was that of a man in his early fifties, slight and balding, with haughty chiselled features: a grotesque icon, a parody of sanctity. In place of thorns he wore the silk skullcap of a cardinal in the Roman Church, twisted askew as if he had dressed hastily, and the scarlet cassock of his office fell in folds to the polished toes of a pair of hand-tooled shoes". Cordelia Sinclair, a thirty-five-year-old American, who has arrived in Florence to write a thesis on the origins of Italian opera, knows nothing of this extraordinary event, nor does she have any inkling of the central role she is supposed to play in the series of bizarre murders that are rocking the ancient city. Robbery? A Mafia hit? An act of murderous revenge? To Detective Carlo Arbati, a published poet, the fact of the cardinal's severed vocal cords means he must confront the horrific rituals of a secret group of idealists who had tried, years earlier, to revive the glories of the Renaissance opera, where castrati had sung the soprano parts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373262299
• ISBN13: 9780373262298
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Worldwide Library
• Length: 299 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

written for readers with a brain,

This book is excellent. It's complex and literate. If you are looking for mindless entertainment skip it. I wish there were more Detective Arbati mysteries out there. Also recommended, Madeline Nabb, Carlo Lucarelli, Donna Leon, and Barbara Nadel.

Contrast & Compare your Castratos!

I haven't read this book yet, but others might also wish to see the more complete collection of mostly more favorable reviews of the hardcover edition. Or you could take the author's invitation and get a 3-chapter sample free on his website. I don't know him, but wouldn't want a single opinion to make me miss a good read -- if this is one.

Excellent mystery and more

This is my favorite type of book: a good, solid mystery; set in a beautiful city (Florence); interesting and well-developed characters that you really like; with many allusions to the art world. In short, this book has it all for anyone interested in an absorbing read that has interesting sub-plots. Also in its favor is the fact that all the characters start out in their own seemingly unrelated worlds. But Hill eventually brings them all together in a captivating climax. For lovers of Pears' and Jane Langton's mysteries: get this one and his other Carlo Arbati NOW!

Mystery novel that's intelligent AND a real page-turner.

Set in Florence, Italy, THE LAST CASTRATO is a crime novel with a difference. It concerns the experiences of Cordelia Sinclair, a thirty-two year old graduate student in music from Northwestern University in Chicago, who goes to Italy to research a PhD thesis on early opera and, more importantly, to define a new role for her life after a bad marriage. Hill's knowledge of renaissance music and the cult of the castrati is wonderful (he's an English professor in Canada) and it provides the perfect fodder for a plot. THE LAST CASTRATO is an excellent gripping read as well as being -- and this is rare in the genre -- an intellectually stimulating novel that is elegantly written. I look forward to Hill's next novel with real enthusiasm. THE LAST CASTRATO IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.