I enjoyed this a lot more than I at first expected to (it was a gift, and I hadn’t heard of the author before this). Entertaining police-procedural thriller set in Rome and featuring Alex Blume, an ex-patriot American who was orphaned in Rome as a teenager and is now a senior detective in the Polizia. Despite continuing conflicts with his superiors and colleagues, Blume investigates the murder of an animal-rights activist and encounters a psychopathic killer.

The author himself has lived in Rome for some years, and he brings the modern city to life in this novel. I enjoyed this so much that I bought the next in the series as an ebook and I’m looking forward to reading it. ( )

I enjoyed this story of a detective in Rome but not as much as the Donna Leon books. There wasn't quite the same sense of place. I also felt there were a few idiosyncrasies that irritated, the main one being speeds and distances in imperial rather than metric. ( )

Read to the end. American who grew up in Italy (a bit of a mystery around who helped him after his parents were killed) and became a policeman. The dogs here mostly dog fighting. I read to the end. But this always seemed like something of a duty. (On my new Kindle Fire.) ( )

I love reading detective books from different parts of the world. Currently I'm reading series in Edinburgh (Rebus); Galway, Ireland (Jack Taylor), Quebec (Gamache), Southern France (Bruno Chief of Police) and Yorkshire (Vera Stanhope), so it was fun to find this series set in present day Rome. Commissioner Alec Blume is an American, but he has lived most of his life in Italy. He lost his parents when he was young boy and grew up in the foster system in Rome. He went to college and then joined the Italian police where he is now in charge of the murder squad. Alec is an unlikely hero as he's very human and very aware of his own faults and shortcomings. He also has a very strong sense of justice (which reminded me of John Rebus and Jack Taylor). His vulnerability and his natural instincts make Alec Blume a very likable protagonist. This book is not really a whodunit, as the perpetrator is known almost from the start, but it is certainly a lesson in Italian policing and politics as Alec and his team set out to try to catch a psychotic killer. Friendships and loyalties are tested, new ties are made thus assuring us that this series will be around for awhile. The book is graphic in spots and I found that a bit uncomfortable at times, but it's definitely a promising series for me. ( )

Police Inspector Alec Blume has a lot of “help” for his current case from other Roman law enforcement agencies. The problem is, Blume wants to find the real murderer, while other agencies are looking for a resolution that will satisfy the dead man's politician wife, the press, and the mob boss with inside connections. Although Blume has spent more than half of his life in Rome, he is American. His inability to think like a native Roman is a hindrance to his investigation.

This is an average crime novel without a hook to entice me to continue reading this series. I found it difficult to relate to Alex. It wasn't adequately explained why he wasn't returned to the United States after his parents' deaths when he hadn't yet turned 18. He isn't outstanding at his job, nor is he endearingly incompetent. The American woman he falls for, and who distracts him from what he should be doing to solve his case, has a difficult personality and gives him little encouragement. The sense of place isn't particularly strong, either, unlike Donna Leon's Venetian setting for the Commissario Brunetti series. ( )