Title: The Florentine Gentleman - Magdalen Nabb - book
Summary :
In Florence, on Christmas Eve, Langley Smythe, a retired diplomat of English origin, is discovered dead in his apartment. At the end of his investigation, Warrant Officer Guarnaccia, despite a raging flu and a troublesome intern, will uncover a dark affair of art trafficking. This Florentine Maigret (he officiates at the Pitti Palace where he commands the carabinieri) is of Sicilian origin. A notorious gourmet, endowed with a reserved temperament, he compensates for his unexpected phlegm with tenacious stubbornness. By staging this character, the hero of a dozen investigations since 1981, his spiritual mother, in the enchanting setting of Florence - its cluttered alleys, its small neighborhood merchants - has attracted praise, all the more flattering for being rare, from Georges Simenon himself!
