
The Garden of Evil
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Narrated by:
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Saul Reichlin
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By:
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David Hewson
About this listen
Nominated for the Audiobook Download of the Year, 2008.
In a hidden studio in Rome, an art expert is found dead in front of one of the most beautiful paintings Nic Costa has ever seen - an unknown Caravaggio masterpiece.
But before long, tragedy will strike Nic far closer to home. The main suspect's identity is known, but he remains untouchable, protected by a fleet of lawyers and a sinister cult known as the Ekstasists.
If Costa can crack the reasons for the cult's existence, he may well stand a chance of nailing his wife's killer. But the mystery will take him right back to Caravaggio himself and the reasons he had to flee Rome, all those centuries before.
©2008 David Hewson (P)2008 WF Howes LtdListeners also enjoyed...
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The Cowboy movie syndrome lives
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great surprise!
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Good Italian Mystery
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Too much like a Da Vinci Code knock-off
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The reader is great; the pace is fine, and the plot, though improbable, keeps racing along.
A thoroughly enjoyable book to listen to. And I think Hewson is generally better as an audiobook than a written one, so you can savor his sense of place.
for art lovers
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The plot line strains even the most devoted reader's ability to suspend belief but remember this is a mystery/thriller and you get what you pay for. In earlier books, Hewson seems to give his female supporting characters the job of solving the mystery while credit for the solution stays with the male lead. This book is no exception. This time a young nun/sister/Caravaggio scholar is the real hero and along with Theresa helps Nic and the guys solve the crime.
This is not the best of the Coasta series but is worth the effort.
Worth the effort
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revisit Rome and enjoy a great thriller
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What did you love best about The Garden of Evil?
Even though this is in the middle of the 'Nic Costa' series, I found this book easy to engage with from the first chapter. A great murder-mystery set in Rome, I enjoyed it from start to finish. The question is now, do I read the next book in the series, or start from the beginning...What other book might you compare The Garden of Evil to and why?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. I found it hard to switch it off.I'll be coming back for more...
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Fun exploration of Rome
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I enjoyed this Englishman's story of an Italian police procedural & preformed by a talented American accented narrator. Even though its subject is gruesome & about pornographic subjects, it is not explicit. I was relieved to find this so. The advice given several times in the story is to read the title of the artwork first. This advice works for the title of this mystery too. I found the story engrossing. Like other foreign authors using Italy as the setting for their mysteries (Donna Leon & Michael Dibdin), I am glad of their middleman interpretations.
Saul Reichlin makes listening to the action a pleasure and transported me to another place. He gives each of the different characters their own voice.
I will buy another Hewson mystery. Maybe it will be one earlier in the series although I caught on to these characters just fine.
Italian police procedural by an Englishman, good!
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