Dubray Books

1. A Journey
   Tony Blair
2. Human Chain
   Seamus Heaney
3. Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil
   Derek Landy
4. The Help
   Kathryn Stockett
5. Stand by Me
   Sheila O'Flanagan
6. Mini Shopaholic
   Sophie Kinsella
7. Shadow Wave
   Robert Muchamore
8. The Power
   Rhonda Byrne
9. The Slap
   Christos Tsiolkas
10. The Foster
    Claire Keegan
11. Room
    Emma Donoghue
12. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
    Stieg Larsson
13. One Day
    David Nicholls
14. To Kill a Mockingbird
    Harper Lee
15. Started Early, Took My Dog
    Kate Atkinson

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Dubray Review

This is the impressive debut novel from Tobias Jones, who lived in Italy for several years and, in The Dark Heart of Italy, wrote about his time there. Written in a suitably hard-boiled style, the book is the first in a series to feature the downbeat and world weary Castagnetti – a private detective who would rather spend more time with his bees than in resolving cases. Castagnetti is hired to prove that Riccardo Salati, a man missing for fourteen years, is in fact dead so that the estate of Salati’s recently deceased mother can be disposed of. Unwilling to take the easy option and simply have Salati declared dead, Castagnetti determines to find out the truth behind the missing man and manages to penetrate the supposedly respectable façade of small town Italy, exposing scandals and secrets along the way.

- Brian Blacker, Blackrock

Synopsis

Castagnetti (informally known as 'Casta') is a private detective who doesn't do things by the book. When a pompous notary commissions him to verify that a missing person is 'presumed dead' in order to dispose of a dead woman's estate to the other heirs, Casta smells a rat. Before long he's reopening wounds from years ago and exposing family secrets to those who have tried to suppress them. The relatives of Signora Salati just want their their inheritance, but Casta is going to make sure they get their just desserts as well. Because Casta isn't the sort to content himself with 'presumed dead'. He likes certainty, the kind of certainty that comes from seeing a skeleton. As the Salati case progresses, other corpses appear and Casta realises he's at the centre of an old-fashioned Italian whodunit. "The Salti Case" marks the appearance of a new and memorable detective: an orphan who has pulled himself up from the mean streets.