Maurizio de Giovanni Books In Order

Publication Order of Commissario Ricciardi Books

Publication Order of Giuseppe Lojacono Books

Publication Order of The Bastards of Pizzofalcone Books

Maurizio de Giovanni is a noteworthy author from Italy, who likes to write thriller and mystery novels. He is particularly well known for writing the Commissario Ricciardi series. Author Giovanni was born on March 31, 1958, in Naples, Italy. He has spent a major part of his life staying and working in Naples. In the year 2005, he decided to take part in a competition of Porsche Italia, which is reserved only for the Giallo writers. It was at this competition that author Giovanni got the idea about Commisario Ricciardi. He introduced this character as the main protagonist in his debut short story. This short story also marked the beginning of the writing career of author Giovanni. Subsequently, the novella’s success also inspired author Giovanni to develop the stories of the other Commissario Ricciardi books. The series featuring Commissario Ricciardi officially began with the novel, I Will Have Vengeance. It was published by Fandango in 2007. The first work of Giovanni inspired to the different seasons throughout a year. After the 2010 book, The day of the dead, hit the stores author Giovanni started gaining a wider audience. Later, he successfully established himself as a prominent author with the tremendous success of the series. The year 2011 saw the first book by author Giovanni being released by Einaudi.

Author Giovanni decided to try his hand in the noir genre in 2012. He eventually came up with the book called The Crocodile. This book introduced a new character named Ispettore Lojacono for the first time and from then on he went on to feature in multiple novels of Giovanni. The author and Einaudi released the pocket versions of Giovanni’s seasons’ books in 2012. During the following year, author Giovanni wrote a novel inspired by Ed MacBain’s 87th Precinct series. With this book, Giovanni made a transition to police procedural from noir genre. After some time, he wrote one more novel in the same genre. Both the police procedural novels of Giovanni have been chosen to be adapted into a television show. Editor Sellario released Giovanni’s second short story later in the month, after it was included in the anthology Regalo di Natale. The year 2014 proved to be very prolific for the author. As many as fifteen of his noir stories got released in the Mani Insanguinate anthology. Also, a couple of Giovanni’s books were published immediately after. Currently, a majority of author Giovanni’s works are being translated into the foreign languages. Some of the languages that they are available in include French, English, Catalan, German, and Spanish. Author Giovanni has given the description of Commissario Ricciardi as a man having a paranormal ability that makes him capable of seeing and hearing the murdered people, who are dead. Commissario Ricciardi mostly lives a lonely life. The novels of Commissario Ricciardi take place during the 1930s. In addition to being an author, Giovanni is a professional banker. He likes to write books about the historic matches played by the soccer team of Naples. The books penned by Giovanni are available to read in the English language for the first time.

The Commissario Ricciardi series written by Maurizio de Giovanni is comprised of a total of 11 novels and 1 novella, which were released between the years 2007 and 2017. All the books of this series depict the lead character as Commissario Ricciardi. His full name is Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi and is the commissioner and incharge of the Police Headquarters of Naples. An initial book of the series is entitled ‘Everyone’s Place’. It was released by the Fandango publication in 2009. Author Giovannia has depicted the time of the year 1931 in Naples and has mentioned the important characters as Luigi Ricciardi, the Camparino Duchess, and Brigadier Maione. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that the different seasons in Naples continue to bring death and bloodbath. Now, the city is getting ready to deal with the heat of the hot summer. Ricciardi is informed about a new case that he has to investigate along with Brigadier Maione. Ricciardi has an outspoken attitude and does not like to take orders from others. He likes to take his own decisions and carries on with investigations in his own style. The hierarchy of Fascist doesn’t appreciate the interference of Ricciardi, but they let him do whatever he likes because his efforts prove beneficial for them also. A number of people believe that Ricciardi keeps a secret and speaks to the Devil directly. But, only he knows that he can listen to the dead, mostly the murder victims. When the beautiful Camparino Duchess gets killed mysteriously, Ricciardi receives word from the murdered woman and begins to look for a lead in the case. He looks to solve the case as soon as possible and put the murderer behind bars.

Another well known book of this mystery series is called ‘The Day of the Dead’. Fandango Books released this book too in 2010. Once again, the plot is set in Naples during the year 1931. The chief characters described in the story include Matthew and Commissario Ricciardi. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Ricciardi continues to remain the undisputed hero of the crime scene of Naples in 1930s. He has the capability to solve every case with precision and skills. By seeing his success in solving the crimes Ricciardi’s colleagues feel shocked and surprised. He is helped by the dead themselves as Ricciardi is able to seize the last thoughts of the dead ones until their death. However, this ability does not prove to be useful in some of the criminal cases having an ultimate mystery. The new case comes to Ricciardi during a rainy day. When he is roaming in Naples under the heavy clouds, he comes across the dead body of a child. At first, the child seems to have died due to natural causes, but later, he discovers that someone has killed him.

Ricciardi investigates to find clues that will help him to get to the murderer and catch him. However, he faces a lot of hardships just as he starts the investigation. Even the authorities order him to stop doing any activity in the case as Benito Mussolini is about to arrive in the city. But, Ricciardi doesn’t stop. He keeps investigating secretly. This time, the commissioner didn’t hear any words from the dead victim at the crime scene. Therefore, he seems reluctant to rely on the clues and evidences. A question arises in his mind and makes him wonder whether he has exhausted his special gift. It is also possible that the child was killed somewhere else and left at the place where Ricciardi found him. Anyhow, his investigation doesn’t stop until he hunts down the killer and makes him pay for his brutal crime.

One Response to “Maurizio de Giovanni”

1. Gladys Dean: 2 years ago

   I have enjoyed listening to the Commisario Ricciado series on Hoopla and Overdrive. In the books, all the stories feature cooking. Has any thought been given to creating a cookbook? There must be plenty of people who would like to be able to create Lucia’s and Rosa’s recipes. And maybe a few pizza recipes, too.
   Love the books.

   Reply