Marco Vichi Books In Order

Publication Order of Inspector Bordelli Books

Marco Vichi
Marco Vichi was born in Florence, Italy on November 20, 1957, and now lives in the Chianti hills. He is a novelist and short story writer that has edited a number of crime anthologies. Marco’s also written song lyrics, screenplays, and written for radio, and collaborated on and directed various projects for humanitarian causes.

“Death in Florence” won the Rieti, Scerbanenco, and Camaiore prizes in Italy. It was also shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger award, as was “Death in Sardinia”.

“Death in August” is the first novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2011. Florence in the summer of 1963. Inspector Bordelli is one of just a few policemen left in this deserted city. He spends his days doing routine work, while his nights are tormented by the heat and mosquitoes.

One night, a phone call gives him a new sense of purpose: the suspected death of a wealthy Signora. Bordelli rushes over to her hilltop villa, and picks the locks. The ole woman’s lying on her bed, seemingly having died from an asthma attack, although her medicine was left untouched.

With help from the victim’s eccentric brother, his young protege, and one semi-retired petty thief, Bordelli starts investigating this murder. Each of his suspects has got a solid alibi, however there is something which doesn’t exactly add up.

“Death and the Olive Grove” is the second novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2012. April 1964, although spring has not yet spring quite yet. The poor weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. And bad news is exactly what’s coming to the police station. First of all, Bordell’s buddy Casimiro, who insists that he has found a man’s body in a field above Fiesole. Bordelli races to the scene, yet finds zero sign of any corpse.

Just a couple days later, a little girl is found Villa Ventaglio, who’s been strangled, and there is this terrible bite mark on her belly. Then there’s another girl discovered murdered, with the same exact macabre signature. At the same time, Casimiro has vanished without any trace.

The investigation marks the beginning of one of the darkest periods of Bordelli’s whole life: a never ending nightmare, that’s just as black as the sky up above Florence.

“Death in Sardinia” is the third novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2012. Florence in 1965. A man is discovered murdered, a pair of scissors stuck right through his throat. Just one thing’s known about him: he was a loan shark that blackmailed and ruined the vulnerable men and women that’d come to him asking for help.

Inspector Bordelli prepares to launch a murder investigation. However the case is going to be a tough one for him, arousing some mixed emotions: the desires for justice conflict with a deep hostility for the victim. And his young police sidekick, Piras, is still convalescing at his parents’ home in Sardinia. However Piras has not been recuperating for too long before he also has a mysterious death to deal with.

“Death in Florence” is the fourth novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2013. Florence in October 1966. The rain’s not quitting for a second. When a young boy disappears while on his way home from school the cops fear the worst, and Inspector Bordelli starts an increasingly desperate investigation.

However then the flood comes. During the night of November 4, the swollen river Arno, which is already lapping the arches of the Ponte Vecchio, breaks its banks and ends up overwhelming the city.

Streets end up becoming rushing torrents, and the force of the water sweeping away trees, cars, and doors, shutters as well as all kinds of other detritus. As unimaginable tragedy strikes right at the heart of Florence the mystery of the kid’s vanishing act seems destined to go unsolved, but Bordelli, just as obstinate as ever, isn’t prepared to give up.

“Death in the Tuscan Hills” is the fifth novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2016. Spring of 1967. The trail of destruction and tragedy which followed the previous winter’s floods appears to have died down, and Florence is starting to recover. However Bordelli doesn’t feel the same sense of relief, he’s not had a moment of rest since his investigation of a young boy’s murder went disastrously wrong.

Bordelli, having become embittered and unsettled, resigns from the force and he leaves the city. He couldn’t continue working as a police officer as the perpetrators of such a horrible crime were still out there, still at large.

Now in the solitude of his new home out in the Tuscan hills, he spends his days going for long walks, cooking, and learning how to grow his own vegetables. However the mere thought of that case, of justice not being served, is always with him. Until fate, which he’s never believed in, unexpectedly offers up the opportunity of retribution to him.

“Ghosts of the Past” is the sixth novel in the “Inspector Bordelli” series and was released in 2018. A beguiling woman. A family cloaked in secrets. And a unique setting. Inspector Bordelli’s returned to solve one of the toughest cases of his whole career.

Florence, Winter, 1967. One year’s past since the devastating and historic Arno’s flooding, although memories of this day still linger with the stains on the city walls.

The anniversary of this flood brings with it a new case for Inspector Bordelli, who’s weighed down with remorse after he took justice into his own hands, and yearning for the woman he’s lost (named Elenora), when this mystery opens. A local wealthy industrialist, fiercely respected and loved by everybody he knew, has just been discovered murdered in his grand villa in the Fiesole hills, and the killer’s not left any trace.

Bordelli has no obvious leads to follow, and patiently retraces the victim’s final days when he encounters an old war friend. Inviting this frail man into his home with the goal of restoring him to strength with good wine and food, Bordelli’s not yet realized that this same friend is going to lead him much closer to the secrets at this mystery’s core, beginning with one mysterious woman.

One Response to “Marco Vichi”

1. Mary Thomas: 12 months ago

   I love the Inspector Bordelli books.
   Will there be any more.
   Is March Vichy still writing them?

   Reply