#RivetingReviews: Paul Burke reviews THE DARKEST WINTER by Carlo Lucarelli

1944, the cruelest winter bites as the war arrives on Bologna’s doorstep. The rabid fascist Black Brigades, untethered since the collapse of Mussolini’s government, unleash a reign of terror across the city that even the Germans finds repugnant. In this chaos every life hangs by a thread, including that of detective De Luca, now drafted into the political division of the police by Bologna’s city hall. Every citizen is under suspicion, many brutally murdered in the street, taken for partisans or as personal revenge. The allied forces are halted on the city perimeter thanks to the weather. Six hundred thousand refugees have flooded the city, crammed into camps in the ancient centre desperate to survive. A roundup of the Jewish population has been ordered.

Amid the brutality, De Luca has three murders to solve and three masters to satisfy. The first, an engineer found on the street, apparently a partisan hit, but the Black Brigades are not beyond planting evidence to cover their own crimes. There is more to this murder than meets the eye. The second, a German corporal, a deserter, strangled, stripped naked and hidden in a dank cellar. The third, an amorous professor shot in the eye, perhaps a crime of passion.

None of the cases are as they seem and the investigations are fraught with danger for De Luca. City hall wants him to investigate the engineer’s murder; the Germans want to know who killed their man, on pain of executing ten innocents if no culprit is found; and the partisans believe that the professor was not killed in a jealous rage. Each master has their own way of squeezing De Luca, the detective faces coercion and blackmail. Yet he has a secret desire to behave like a real policeman. The multiple investigations are superbly crafted and there’s a witty undertone despite the seriousness of the backdrop. Each case gives insight into wartime Bologna, the politics of the time and De Luca.

This is a study in personal morality, De Luca tries not to feel too much or engage too deeply. He is not a good man but a survivor and yet he clings to a sense of right and wrong, hating the excesses of fascism. In such times, how does a policeman do his job? Can solving a case somehow throw light into the darkness and where do justice, courage and resilience sit in the tragedy of this ghetto city?

The plight of the Jews and other refugees are part of the brutal backdrop, so beware, this is a tough read. The German officer who tells De Luca about capturing a little Jewish girl will tear at your heart.

This is the most powerful novel in an evocative quartet, the three earlier novels are set after WWII. This one captures the complex nature of Italy under German occupation. A moving and intelligent social critique that is nonetheless an enjoyable murder mystery. A spellbinding character portrait of the protagonist, a man in the maelstrom, pulled in all directions.

Reviewed by Paul Burke

THE DARKEST WINTER

Written by Carlo Lucarelli

Translated by Joseph Farrell

Published by OPEN BORDERS PRESS (2025)

March 2025 #RivetingReviews titles are available to buy from bookshop.org.

Paul Burke writes reviews, interviews, articles and features for crimefictionlover.com and crimetime.co.uk. He is editor and presenter of the Crime Time FM podcast and is a judge for the CWA Historical Dagger. Paul is a book collector, lover of literature in translation and a crime fiction aficionado. His first book An Encyclopedia of Spy Fiction will be published in early 2026.

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