Review: The Monster of Florence

The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Wow! What an amazing tale about a series of murders that occurred between 1968 and 1985 and involved couples who were killed while having sex in their cars in deserted lanes around the city of Florence in the Italian province of Tuscany. We learn Tuscany is not a bucolic Eden, but more like a riot of abusive, sex-starved, half-wit criminal Italian hillbillies.

The book tells the story of the inept, often ludicrously/ciminally mismanaged and ultimately unsuccessful 20-plus year search for a serial killer in the vicinity of Florence, Italy. (The story of the search for the Monster of Florence was also worked into the plot of [b:Hannibal|32418|Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3)|Thomas Harris|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327356556s/32418.jpg|2992500] by Thomas Harris who studied the case.)

Preston, an author of fiction and non-fiction books, and Mario Spezi, co-author of the book, collaborate on articles and books about the case. Both became figures in the case when the Italian prosecutors came to suspect them and accuse them of crimes including obstruction of justice ("reticence") and potentially being accomplices to murder. This is part of the cultural exploration of Italy made here which appears a fertile ground for conspiracy theories. Thus we have the fascinating Italian word "dietrologia". An Italian nobleman explained the meaning of dietrologia to author Douglas Preston this way: "Dietro - behind. Logia - the study of...Dietrologia is the idea that the obvious thing cannot be the truth. There is always something hidden behind, dietro. It isn't quite what you Americans call conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theory implies theory, something uncertain, a possibility. The dietrologist deals only in fact. This is how it really is." Thus teh fear of being gullible and a belief in hidden motiviations fosters Italian beliefe in Rube Goldberg machinations.

The book recounts the authors' personal experiences while investigating the case and their problems of being accused by the Italian criminal justice system. Preston and Spezi are outspoken critics of the tactics and theories pursued by the Italian police and prosecutors in the Monster of Florence case.

This audio version includes an interview with Preston, which is interesting but really adds nothing not in the book.



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