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David Hewson may well be the finest mystery writer of our time. In my humble opinion, he's also one of our best contemporary writers, period. There are elements of Agatha Christie, Graham Greene and William Shakespeare in his work, but when you sit down and crack the spine of A SEASON OF THE DEAD or THE VILLA OF MYSTERIES, what you have is all and uniquely Hewson.
Which brings us to THE LIZARD'S BITE, Hewson's latest work to be published in the United States. It is the fourth book in a series of novels featuring Italian policeman Nic Costa, who, along with his partner, Gianni Peroni, has been exiled to Venice. Reunions abound in the opening chapters --- some welcome, some not. All, however, are intriguing, not the least of which is the return of Inspector Leo Falcone, who has been laboring in Verona. But the trio is quickly put in the untenable position of investigating a pair of deaths for which the powers that be --- both official and unofficial --- have preordained the result.
The situs of the murders is the Isola del Arcangeli, a factory that produced unique, highly priced and prized glass pieces for decades. But the factory and the Arcangelo family are suffering from a thousand cuts: an archaic furnace, cheap knockoffs, a falling demand. When Uriel, one of the Arcangelo brothers, is found dead in a fire at the factory, and the body of his wife Bella is discovered stuffed in the furnace, it is obvious to the local authorities that Uriel killed Bella and then died accidentally.
Costa and Peroni are directed to make short work of an inverted pyramid investigation, with their reward being an early return to Rome. The conclusion is pre-ordained, as far as the local authorities are concerned. Hewson lets his readers know just enough to realize that the conclusion is dead wrong. The fun is watching how the police slowly deconstruct the obvious conclusion, deduce the correct one and then bring the culprit(s) to justice.
Hewson peppers THE LIZARD'S BITE with a number of interesting --- and fascinating --- factoids about places and subjects that compel the reader to find out more on their own. But this common thread (among others) through Hewson's novels is not performed by rote. Think instead of a tightrope walker who performs his work daily for the same audience but introduces a new, and jeopardous, element every time. That's a Hewson novel. Very highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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