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The Dogs Of Rome (Commissario Alec Blume #1)
by
Conor Fitzgerald (Goodreads Author)
An engrossing novel of murder, organized crime, and politics in contemporary Italy—the first in a series of Italian crime novels by a promising new writer. On a hot summer morning, Arturo Clemente is sloppily murdered in his Roman apartment by a mysterious slasher. Though the murder appears amateurish, even random, Clemente is no ordinary victim. An animal rights activist
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
March 2nd 2010
by Bloomsbury USA
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I love a good detective story, and if that story takes place in Italy, so much the better. I enjoy Sicilian detective, Salvo Montalbano, and have read all nineteen of Camilleri’s books. And I find the Venetian Comissario Brunetti of Donna Leon’s books ever so delightful. So when I discovered a book about a Rome detective, Alec Blume, I couldn’t wait to read it.
I found it tough going at the start. I couldn’t quite get a handle on Fitzgerald’s main character, Alec Blume. And the story about illeg...more
I found it tough going at the start. I couldn’t quite get a handle on Fitzgerald’s main character, Alec Blume. And the story about illeg...more
I really liked this. I liked the Italian atmosphere and the mystery which wasn't a whodunnit but rather a howtocatchwhodunnit.
Roman Commissioner Blume is an American. He's lived in Italy since he was a teenager and stayed after his parents were killed during a bank robbery. The policemen were kind to him and perhaps that's why he went into the profession.
When a murdered man turns out to be an animal rights activist and the husband of a prominent Italian politician, the higher-ups want the case c...more
Roman Commissioner Blume is an American. He's lived in Italy since he was a teenager and stayed after his parents were killed during a bank robbery. The policemen were kind to him and perhaps that's why he went into the profession.
When a murdered man turns out to be an animal rights activist and the husband of a prominent Italian politician, the higher-ups want the case c...more
I am partial to detective mysteries and especially enjoy those set in exotic locations or historic periods. So, I jumped at the chance to review the first novel in Colin Fitzgerald's Commissario Alec Blume series, The Dogs of War.
Set in present day Rome, The Dogs of Rome combines a familiarity with Rome, Roman culture, and Italian politics with a strong and complex detective mystery. Alec Blume is a flawed but engaging character - and a fine detective. When faced with an unusual murder scene, he...more
Set in present day Rome, The Dogs of Rome combines a familiarity with Rome, Roman culture, and Italian politics with a strong and complex detective mystery. Alec Blume is a flawed but engaging character - and a fine detective. When faced with an unusual murder scene, he...more
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...more
This was one of the best most intelligent and exciting crime thrillers I have ever read. I understand it is a first novel and as such quite an achievement. The cop, Commissario Alec Blume does lack definition to some extent, it seems that somehow he has no face, he doesn't know what women want and has little success with them. The writer does give him a sort of ironic humour which lights up many scenes.
The author is clearly a highly intelligent writer; it's all the more puzzling therefore why t...more
The author is clearly a highly intelligent writer; it's all the more puzzling therefore why t...more
Good doggie. While a criminal dogfighting operation sets this book in motion, it is a wonderful set of characters that distinguishes this generally low-key crime procedural set in Rome. This is not the Rome of picturesque fountains and palaces. This is the Rome of the streets, populated by shopkeepers and waiters; punks, enforcers, and crime bosses; honest and less-than-honest cops; journalists; and politicians. At the heart of the book is Alec Blume, born in the United States, who moved to Ital...more
I found The Dogs Of Rome to be a well-written mystery/cop story, but it is a bit gritty for my taste. Commissario Alec Blume, an American who was raised in Rome, is a flawed, complex character who is not always likeable, yet still possesses a code of honor that a reader can respect. For me, at least, he comes close to anti-hero territory, not a path I knowingly choose when picking out a book. I also had hoped that Rome would be a character in this novel, like Paris is in Cara Black's Aimee Leduc...more
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this one. In most places, the book is compelling and the violence is visceral. But there were a few places that just drag; so points off for that.
I had a tough time keeping up with the different types of police and the heirarchy within the departments, but this probably wouldn't be an issue for someone familiar with Italy. Alec Blume is an interesting character. He's both vulnerable and strong. He's a foreigner in what he considers his home country. He's a c...more
I had a tough time keeping up with the different types of police and the heirarchy within the departments, but this probably wouldn't be an issue for someone familiar with Italy. Alec Blume is an interesting character. He's both vulnerable and strong. He's a foreigner in what he considers his home country. He's a c...more
The Dogs of Rome is the first in the Commissario Alec Blume series by Conor Fitzgerald, and if you're looking for a new detective series set in Italy, you're in the right place.
Dogs introduces Commissario Blume, an American-born police commissioner in Rome, who is faced with solving the murder of an animal rights activist who also happens to be the husband of a politician. Although Blume quickly has a suspect in his sights, his efforts to conclude the investigation are thwarted at every turn by...more
Dogs introduces Commissario Blume, an American-born police commissioner in Rome, who is faced with solving the murder of an animal rights activist who also happens to be the husband of a politician. Although Blume quickly has a suspect in his sights, his efforts to conclude the investigation are thwarted at every turn by...more
More Dibdin than Leon, Fitzgerald's debut novel suffers from too many complications. Not of plot - that becomes clear quite early on - but of character and organization. Seemingly written simply to introduce the series, The Dogs of Rome introduces us to many characters and their backstories, few of whom are likable enough to want to spend much time with.
Alec Blume is an expat American who has become a Roman police commissario - commissioner isn't quite the right translation, though it is literal...more
Alec Blume is an expat American who has become a Roman police commissario - commissioner isn't quite the right translation, though it is literal...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Though I really enjoyed this novel, I did have one very minor irritant while reading it. I enjoy reading books set in other countries, especially if the author is a native or has lived there, as it gives a certain degree of authenticity to the story line and dialogue. What I didn't like about this novel is though Conor Fitzgerald brought bits of Rome to life for me, he killed it at times by using so many Americanised words, such as cell phone. Most people in Eurpoe call it a 'mobile' or a 'telef...more
Chief Inspector Blume has a new case to crack, with all the ingredients we may expect from a crime thriller set in beautiful Rome - a corrupt police-force, organised crime, insiduous political influence, and, of course, a mysterious love-interest.
The story concentrates on Blume's attempts to catch his man, and leads the reader on a colourful journey through Rome's back-streets and underworld.
I really loved the fresh perspective that Alec Blume, who was born in the USA but grew up in Rome, brings...more
The story concentrates on Blume's attempts to catch his man, and leads the reader on a colourful journey through Rome's back-streets and underworld.
I really loved the fresh perspective that Alec Blume, who was born in the USA but grew up in Rome, brings...more
Jun 12, 2011
Mark Goodwich
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Mystery reader
Great Start to a New Series
I found this book on the “free Kindle Top 100” list and downloaded it after reading the description and some of the reviews. What did I have to lose for free! This is a great way to get new author’s work out to the public. I am now a fan of the “Commissario Alec Blume Series” and will purchase the second book. The book was well written with a great feel for a outsider looking at his world in which he lives. An American living and having been brought up in Rome, working...more
I found this book on the “free Kindle Top 100” list and downloaded it after reading the description and some of the reviews. What did I have to lose for free! This is a great way to get new author’s work out to the public. I am now a fan of the “Commissario Alec Blume Series” and will purchase the second book. The book was well written with a great feel for a outsider looking at his world in which he lives. An American living and having been brought up in Rome, working...more
There are very few movies that I enjoy more than The Godfather. I know this utterance is so commonplace as to be practically a cliche, but I really, truly do enjoy the film - the first one: my feelings for the second are entirely too personal to be looked at from an objective perspective, and I really didn't enjoy the third. I know that Puzo wrote the novel, but I am more at home with Coppola's storytelling than with Puzo's. There is something about it that is foreign enough to be fascinating, a...more
I'm giving this book 4 stars for everything that happens after the murderer is revealed. I was totally going to stop reading this book for the first 200 pages but I really didn't want to be a quitter and I really wanted the book to be good. well if wishes were horses beggars would ride, and in this book beggars do ride.
the book is really boring for like 200 hundred pages, but then something happens the formatting changes and the new formatting is ideal, like extremely ideal, like it died on the...more
the book is really boring for like 200 hundred pages, but then something happens the formatting changes and the new formatting is ideal, like extremely ideal, like it died on the...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I have to agree with a previous reviewer who said "wasn't a whodunnit but rather a howtocatchwhodunnit." I think that is what I had an issue with. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, though I felt it dragged at spots. The different perspective of an Italian guard case was fun. But once the guilty party was revealed I feel it fell at rapid pace--part seemed to drag like the author was waiting until he got to a certain number of pages before cramming multiple scenes and action in. Still,...more
As a resident of Italy and a fan of crime fiction, I was pleased to find The Dogs of Rome free on Amazon. The novel starts promisingly with the murder of an animal rights activist and the introduction of Alec Blume, a police commissioner who is American by birth but Italian by adoption. Fitzgerald is an excellent writer who understands the nuances of the Italian political system, and his characters are well drawn, but while I would like to give the book a 5-star rating, about three-quarters thro...more
I really enjoyed reading this book becacuse it was about a mystery murder. I started reading this book and didnt like how it did not get interesting til i read more of the chapters. Arturo the man who was killed had so mnay things happening in his life that there are not many clues of to who has killed him. They find out that he didnt like dog fights and wanted to stop them so he would go to the dog fight rings and tell the police about them. Blume is on the case untill he cant work anymore beca...more
An interesting read, though a little predictable as murder mysteries go.
Alec Blume, an American/Italian police commissioner in Rome is the lead investigator for the murder of a animal activist, husband of an Italian Senator. During the course of the investigation he finds ties between a high profile Italian crime family and the victim and becomes aware of a level of corruption within the justice system and the influence of powerful people who want a nice tidy end to a not so tidy case. Alec seem...more
Alec Blume, an American/Italian police commissioner in Rome is the lead investigator for the murder of a animal activist, husband of an Italian Senator. During the course of the investigation he finds ties between a high profile Italian crime family and the victim and becomes aware of a level of corruption within the justice system and the influence of powerful people who want a nice tidy end to a not so tidy case. Alec seem...more
This new series centers around an interesting main character - Alec Blume is an ex-pat American, living in Rome since childhood, and now working there as a police officer. Blume is not one of those characters that immediately inspires connections, but by the end of the novel, he definitely grows on readers, giving this book a very realistic feel. And though the characters really do come to life, the plot of this mystery isn’t very mysterious. As a thriller, the novel fails to deliver the edge-of...more
I really wanted to like this new mystery series set in Rome, as I have been reading it as part of my preparation for an Italian vacation in April. The Roman background story is filled with the corruption and betrayals we have come to expect as part of Italian government and politics. There is no character in this novel truly decent or trustworthy at all. When combined with a plot line about dog fighting and torture and a sadistic killer, it was just too much for this reader.I am just going to co...more
Meh. For the kind of people who like books like this, I bet it's a really good one. For me (not necessarily the best judge of such books) parts of the plot stayed interesting and intriguing, but I never really liked anyone enough to care about them. Also, the hierarchy of everything was confusing, but not in the way that made me want to figure it out. I finished it just because I'm the kind of person who always finishes books.
I read this book after I read the second in the series (not that it matters all that much plot-wise), but I didn't like it quite as well. I'm not sure if that's because of the subject matter (art forgery interests me much more than the mafia and dog fights) or because Fitzgerald was still finding his voice in this book.
I liked the parallels between how the mafia gets information and how the CIA gets information -- the juxtaposition between Kristin and Innocenzi is kind of fun. There were too man...more
I liked the parallels between how the mafia gets information and how the CIA gets information -- the juxtaposition between Kristin and Innocenzi is kind of fun. There were too man...more
Written with assurance, as the author obviously knows Rome well. I disliked the americanisms which jarred and some of the plot lacked tension as it was pretty clear that he would have to catch the killer otherwise a series featuring Blume would lack power. However, I did feel the heat and the character of Blume felt cleverly open to be expanded upon by future books.
Feb 02, 2012
Mel Fouch
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-mystery-thriller,
kindle_daily_deal
An unusual protagonist set against an interesting background. I was a bit puzzled by the occasional bit of Italian doalogue though. Surely all the characters are presumed to be talking Italian anyway and it's just being rendered in English because that's the language the book is written in. If they suddenly start speaking in "real" Italian what are they speaking in the rest of the time ?
Thanks to Amazon.com for the fabulous free Kindle download. This mystery is so well written that I had to refer to my Amazon account to figure out if I had paid for this book! Excellent intro for a new author and series.
Alec Blume, a Roman police officer but a born American, brings a unique point of view to crime solving in Rome. And while the crimes were a bit grisly, the book is written with considerable humor, interesting characters and the location certainly exotic. I will follow this author...more
Alec Blume, a Roman police officer but a born American, brings a unique point of view to crime solving in Rome. And while the crimes were a bit grisly, the book is written with considerable humor, interesting characters and the location certainly exotic. I will follow this author...more
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this one. I definately enjoyed reading the Dogs of Rome, and will seek out other Alec Blume novels. It was a bit confusing understanding the heirarchy of the police force and who were supposed to be the commanding officers, but that aside Alec Blume has a very human side. An intelligent whodunnit.
Good mystery. I enjoy mysteries and liked the Italian setting. Main character was likable. Very human, makes mistakes. Characters were interesting kept you interested in the plot. Dog fighting is despicable and I liked that one of the characters was fighting against it.
This is his first novel so I am sure there will be more to come.
I liked this cover much better than the new one. It was one of the reasons I picked it up.
This is his first novel so I am sure there will be more to come.
I liked this cover much better than the new one. It was one of the reasons I picked it up.
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