The Dogs of Rome: A Commissario Alec Blume Novel

by Conor Fitzgerald

Book Overview

On a hot summer morning, Arturo Clemente is sloppily murdered in his Roman apartment by a mysterious slasher. When his wife, an eminent politician, finds his body, she swiftly springs into action--by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1608190544
• ISBN13: 9781608190546
• Release Date: May 2011
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A New Police Detective Series

As an orphaned American expatriate living in Rome, Commissario Alec Blume has no illusions that justice brings closure. After all, his own parents were murdered in a botched bank robbery when he was just seventeen. Years later, as he stared at the gravestone of the man he believed shot them, he felt no sense of justice. So when Blume is called to investigate the brutal, messy murder of animal rights activist Arturo Clemente, he does not pursue his prime suspect to punish him or to bring closure to Clemente's family or devoted mistress; rather, with dogged determination, he tracts the killer because he knows his job--his real job--is to prevent more victims. This is why he became a policeman, not to punish the guilty but to save the innocent. But Rome has a complex civic culture where politicians, law enforcement, and established criminal organizations have certain understood agreements where a certain amount of give and take is expected from all sides. It's just how things are. Up to now, Blume has managed to remain largely ignorant of the unspoken deals made in the interests of keeping order in the streets. But Clemente's murder exposes the underbelly of all these intertwined forces that run Rome: Clemente's wife is a politician who wants to minimize the damage to herself and her son; Clemente's mistress, the daughter of a feared crime boss, wants and eye for an eye; and Clemente's superiors want the case closed quickly without repercussions. So, when a small-time dog-fighting operator named Alleva looks good for the crime, Blume is pressured to arrest him and tie up the loose ends. But Blume's instincts tell him Alleva is all wrong for this crime. It's too messy. It's too unprofessional. It's too NOT! Alleva. So Blume pushes back against the powers that be to pursue his own leads and, in the process, learns a lot about his past, his present, and where he wants to go from here, an orphaned American expatriate now pushing forty. A unique police procedural, Conor Fitzgerald's "The Dogs of Rome" introduces a fresh, somewhat hybrid detective. While Alec Blume's American roots have grown shallow, he doesn't always feel as embedded in his adopted city as its natives. He'd rather not know what bargains were made to keep the 17-year-old orphan safe until he grew up to become a police detective. Although flawed, Blume is essentially a good man doing an impossible job in an impossible city. Through him, we see Rome as a city of people just trying to make it all work and keep the dogs from running wild in the streets. This review is based on a copy supplied by the publisher through an Early Reader program.

The Dogs of Rome

The Dogs of Rome is a very good murder mystery with well developed characters. The characters are not the "cookie-cutter stereotypes" often found in "Whodunit" murder mysteries. The characters are more important that the "puzzle" of the mystery. This novel is similar in this way to the "Columbo" television series or the "Inspector Bill Slider" novels by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. It is a novel about the people surrounding a murder investigation, rather than a novel about a murder investigation. Unlike many other male writers, whose female characters seem unidimensional, Mr. Fitzgerald captures both male and female characters equally well. The characters are very complex and real with strengths and weaknesses, just as all real people have good points and flaws. All of the characters are well developed. The men, women, children, good-guys, bad-guys, and in-between-guys are all very real. Reading as Fitzgerald brings all the stories to an end, is like watching the space shuttle leave orbit and taxi to a stop at the end of its runway. Many modern mystery novels have a STOPING rather than an ENDING, with stories that crash into a tree rather than arriving at a destination. The quixotic nature of the Italian police system's bureaucracy is well captured. Rome has worked to perfect the art of bureaucracy for at least 10,000 years, and Fitzgerald gives the reader a wonderful introduction to its nuance. I sincerely hope that this is but the first of many Commissario Alec Blume novels.

A magnificent debut; smart, stylish, engaging...and funny

This book is just a great read - I started reading it after work on Friday, and I barely put it down until I'd finished it on Sunday afternoon. If you like Elmore Leonard and Ed McBain, you will really enjoy this one. The characters are three-dimensional, engaging and, most importantly, they have a sense of humor, irony and of their own limitations. It is first and foremost a crackling mystery story, with all kinds of unexpected twists, turns, screw-ups and redemptions, and even a surprisingly useful love interest. It is going to make a great movie too - remember you read that here when it comes out and you are standing in line to see it, even though you know how it ends! The main character, a detective with the Rome police, is an insider, in that he is completely assimilated as a Roman, can jabber away in Roman dialect, and so on. But he is also a perpetual outsider, because he is originally from somewhere else, the other cops won't let him forget it, and in any case he himself doesn't really want to forget it. (He also doesn't have a family, let alone an extended family network, which as far as I can see is the key to survival in Italy...) This gives him a perspective on Rome and Italian life that almost no one else has - and that is interesting. (In fact, the fact that the story is set in Rome isn't just an exotic backdrop. It changes everything, gives it layers of social and moral and political compromise that you almost never find in a detective novel. Makes you lean in and pay attention!) The last thing I'll say is that the book is naturally funny. I think it comes from the unique perspectives on life that the characters have, but I don't want to think about it too much because I laughed out loud several times, I'm expecting there'll be at least one sequel - and I want to get lost in the sequel like I did with this one, not try to analyze why I'm laughing as I'm laughing! The Dogs of Rome: A Commissario Alec Blume Novel

Gripping mystery!

This murder mystery grabbed and kept my attention from the very first chapter. After the murder is committed the story is told from the point of view of the detective in charge of the case. Alec Blume is an American expat living in Rome. As the case progresses we learn about departmental politics and Blume's past. Near the end the story switches to the point of view of the murderer and we learn what he or she was doing all this time along with the motive. I liked this technique although some may not. Highly recommended!

The Dogs of Rome

I won "The Dogs of Rome" by Connor Fitzgerald through [...] first read giveaway. I love crime novels and am always in the hunt for a new author. Based on Mr. Fitzgerald's debut novel I believe he has a promising future in the crime genre. The format of the book was very unique. The book starts off with the murder. You know who was murdered but not by whom or why. The reader is quickly introduced to Commissioner Blume, the lead police investigator. Although Commissioner Blume believes he has figured out who the murderer is the politics in the police station prevent him from following his instincts. In order to solve the murder Commissioner Blume must break the rules and risk lives all in the name of being an upstanding police officer. The brief insight into Commissioner Blume's past allows the reader to connect with the character and root for him to be successful. I hope in future books a little more about the Commissioner's personal life will be shared with readers. I did find that there were too many characters in this book and it was often hard to keep them all straight. Either a character list at the beginning of the book of just fewer characters would have been helpful. I also found it strange that halfway through the book the point of view changed from Commissioner Blume to the murderer. There was no clear distinction that the point of view was changing. My personal preference would have been for the point of view to stay with Commissioner Blume but at the very least some clear break in the book needs to be made if Mr. Fitzgerald wants to change points of view. Overall, I thought "The Dogs of Rome" was an impressive first novel and will recommend it to anyone who has an interest in crime novels.