The Mannequin Man
Luca Di Fulvio
Translated by Patrick McKeown
“Know why she’s smiling?” he asked, pointing a small torch at the corpse. “Fish hooks. Two fish hooks at the corners of her mouth, a bit of nylon, pull it round the back of the head and tie a knot. Pretty straightforward, right?” Amaldi noticed the metallic glint at the corners of the taut mouth.
Inspector Amaldi has enough problems. A city choked by a pestilent rubbish strike, a beautiful student harassed by a telephone stalker, a colleague dying of cancer and the mysterious disappearance of arson files concerning the city’s orphanage. Then the mutilated bodies begin to appear.
This novel of violence and decay, with its vividly portrayed characters, takes place over a few oppressive weeks in an unnamed Italian city that strongly evokes Genoa.
Short listed for the European Crime Writing Prize