The Namesake Read online

  Picciotto

  A rank in the ’ndrangheta, below that of camorrista. If we use the analogy of the army, we might compare a picciotto to a corporal.

  Puglia

  Also known by its Latin name Apulia, a southern region corresponding to the ‘heel’ of Italy.

  Sgarrista

  A rank in the ’ndrangheta, above that of camorrista (q.v.). If we consider a camorrista as analogous to an army lieutenant, then a sgarrista is a captain.

  SISDE

  Now called AISI (q.v.).

  Sorella d’omertà

  A ‘sister sworn to the code of silence’. A female member of the ’ndrangheta. It is the highest rank a woman can have in the organisation, and seems to fall somewhere between sgarrista and santista.

  Squadra mobile

  ‘Flying squad’. The term, referring to a group of police officers who investigate serious crimes, comes from the idea that they are mobile so that they can get quickly to the scene of a crime. Blume is part of Section III (Crimes against the Person) of the Squadra Mobile of Rome.

  A Note on the Author

  Conor Fitzgerald has lived in Ireland, the UK, the United States, and Italy. He has worked as an arts editor, produced a current affairs journal for foreign embassies and founded a successful translation company. He is married with two children and lives in Rome. He is the author of The Dogs of Rome and The Fatal Touch. The Namesake is his third book.

  Also available by Conor Fitzgerald

  The Dogs of Rome

  On a hot summer morning, Arturo Clemente is brutally murdered in his Roman apartment. Clemente is no ordinary victim. His widow is an elected member of the Senate, and Chief Inspector Alec Blume arrives at the scene to find enquiries well underway. The murder case seems clear-cut and a prime suspect is quickly identified, but Blume must fight to regain control of the investigation, aware from bitter experience that in Rome even a murder enquiry must bow to the rules of politics. The complex and uncomfortable truth he will unravel will shock even him, and his struggle for justice may yet cost more innocent lives...

  ‘A powerful and hugely compelling thriller. Dark, worldly and written with tremendous style and assurance … Conor Fitzgerald is a class act’

  William Boyd

  ‘Blume is an engaging hero who might just have to potential to fill the gap left when Michael Dibdin’s death ended his Italian detective Aurelio Zen’s investigations’

  Sunday Times

  The Fatal Touch

  In the early hours of a Saturday morning, a body is discovered in Piazza de’ Renzi. If it was just a simple fall that killed him, why is a senior Carabiniere officer so interested?

  Commissioner Alec Blume is immediately curious and the discovery of the dead man’s notebooks reveals that there is a great deal more at stake than the unfortunate death of a down-and-out... What secrets did he know that might have made him a target? What is the significance of the Galleria Orpiment? And why are the authorities so intent on blocking Blume’s investigations?

  ‘Alec Blume is an inspired creation ... Highly recommended’

  Guardian

  ‘Set in Rome in the murky world of art forgery, it’s beautifully written and has a deliciously laconic sense of humour’

  Irish Times

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  First published in Great Britain 2012

  This electronic edition published in 2012 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Copyright © Conor Fitzgerald 2012

  Map by ML Design

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