"The Devil is grinning from every corner of that house!"
In the seedy Milan Hotel of the Three Roses, an odd collection of International guests and visitors prepare to gamble late into the evening. When Inspector De Vincenzi receives a call, he doesn't yet know the case will last through the night until dawn, trapping everyone inside, and producing several incomprehensible murders. This is the second De Vincenzi case I have read from Augusto De Angelis (recently republished by Pushkin Vertigo press, who are making available several lesser known masters of crime) and by far the most complex - a real mental workout.
The gamblers play scopone in the restaurant, the guests descend the staircase to the lobby - yet, within a twenty minute period while the stairs were empty, someone has hung a body. Suicide or murder? This is decided quickly as they discover the body has been dead for more than 10 hours! The guests are sequestered in their rooms, everyone is questioned by De Vincenzi, but police and guards at every door will not prevent the murderer from striking again and again throughout the night! A man stabbed without spilling a drop of blood and with no holes in his clothes... a body appears right after the maid cleans the room... These seemingly impossible crimes must have a motive, and there is not a page that goes by the mystery doesn't grow.
This is a clever and puzzling mystery, and De Vincenzi is on top of the game. His style is complete - slowly, methodically, he takes in everything around him; the light, the imperceptible vibrations emanating from every object, as if absorbing it all by osmosis, through the pores of his skin. Everyone has a back story that soon intertwine as the dawn approaches. Diabolical!
The Hotel of the Three Roses was first published in Italian as L'albergo Delle Tre Rose in 1936, yet seems dateless, as readable as current mysteries. While the first I read, The Murdered Banker, had few characters - this has a hotel full, yet De Angelis handles the crowd with balance and flair.
For fans of old school Golden Age whodunnits, this is one to seek out.
Thanks to Pushkin Vertigo, these gems of crime and mystery are reaching a new audience.
1936 / Tradeback / 220 pages
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