Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood (UK 2005)

From the Publisher:
'Guarnaccia continues to impress as the most convincingly human of modern detectives and his creator as a writer of deep and rare dimension.' -- Observer

Former model Olivia Birkett, the American widow of the Florentine Count Ugo Brunamonti, has been violently kidnapped. Head of a successful fashion house, she is an obvious target for the Sardinian kidnap gangs nominally engaged in raising sheep in the Tuscan hills. Even though the government's official policy is not to permit payment of ransom...

But when Olivia's daughter reports her disappearance, Marshal Guarnaccia begins to suspect something more sinister. And as he is drawn ever further into the intricate politics of the wealthy Brunamonti family, Guarnaccia starts to wonder whether Olivia really was the intended victim...

'The intrigue is absorbing, and the Florentine background brilliantly portrayed... We fans... are as fascinated by [Guarnaccia's] diet as by his deductions.' -- Evening Standard

Magdalen Nabb's books are set in a Florence so vividly brought to life that I long to go back there after reading each one.' -- Sunday Telegraph

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood. A Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery. Arrow, ISBN: 0099443333 (June, 2005), 291 p., £6.99.

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
Olivia, an American-born model, married Count Ugo Brunamonti, a feckless, soon impoverished aristocrat. After his death, she supported her children 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 Olivia's children are unwilling to pay the ransom? Is this more than a random crime?

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood. A Marshal Guarnaccia Mystery. Heinemann, ISBN: 0434010529 (February, 2004), 248 p., £15.99.

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
The head of a prominent fashion house, Contessa Olivia Brunamonti, has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom deep in the Tuscan hills. Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the carabinieri, a Sicilian stationed in Florence, must track the kidnappers in order to save her life.

Praise for Magdalen Nabb's Florentine Mysteries
"The best mystery news in ages is that Soho is restoring to the canon Magdalen Nabb and her tremendous creation, Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia of the Italian police in Florence." -- The Chicago Tribune

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

"Exquisite." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Nabb is formidable... an Italian reality tourists rarely glimpse." -- Houston Post

"Elegant of style and elegant of mind." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Nabb's Florentine mystery series has offered distinctive mystery novels with an elegant, literate style... Her novels glow with the warmth and charm of their Florentine setting." -- Washington Post Book World

"Nabb continues to extend conventions of the police procedural to suit her own intriguing vision and purpose." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood. A Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation. Soho Press, ISBN: 1569473102 (October, 2002), 252 p., $12.00.

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
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?

Magdalen Nabb: Property of Blood. A Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation. Soho Press, ISBN: 1569472513 (September, 2001), 252 p., $23.00.