Carte Blanche is a novella by Carlo Lucarelli, translated from Italian, the first in a trilogy. The setting is April 1945 in Italy.
The story starts shortly before the end of World War II, in the final days of the Fascist regime in Italy. The protagonist is a policeman in the regular police, Commissario De Luca, who only recently transferred from another police group that worked under the direction of Mussolini. He just wants to solve crimes without having political interference, but that seems impossible in Italy during the war.
De Luca's first assignment in the regular police is to find who is responsible for the murder of a member of the Fascist party, Vittorio Rehinard. This investigation brings him into the world of the rich and privileged. After a day or two of investigation, De Luca begins to understand that no one in a position of power in the police or the government cares whether the killer is caught. He cares, though, and he continues to pursue the investigation.
From the description on the Europa edition that I read:
Carte Blanche, the first installment in Carlo Lucarelli's "De Luca Trilogy," is much more than a first-rate crime story. It is also an investigation into the workings of justice in a state that is crumbling under the weight of profound historic change.
My thoughts:
- The Preface by the author is fantastic, explaining his inspiration for writing the story. He followed this story up with two more short novels featuring Comissario De Luca, The Damned Season and Via Delle Oche.
- I nearly always enjoy crime fiction set around the time of World War II, but I have not read many books set in Italy during that time. Thus I learned about new aspects of World War II.
- The story is fast-paced and never boring. The tension is maintained throughout. De Luca is sometimes perplexed and concerned about his future and the future of the country, but he isn't going to give up on the investigation.
- At times I was a bit confused about the different factions in Italy, and the many characters and whose side they were on, but that was a minor distraction.
I read this for the "Literature in Translation" Week in the Novellas in November 2021 reading event. The event celebrates the short novel, or novella. The host blogs are 746 Books and Bookish Beck.
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Publisher: Europa Editions, 2006 (orig. pub. 1990)
Translator: Michael Reynolds
Length: 93 pages
Format: Trade Paperback
Series: De Luca Trilogy, #1
Setting: Italy
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: Purchased at Planned Parenthood book sale, 2010.
