The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders

Rating:
Summary: Enticing Debut From Down Under
Review: For any who enjoy great writing of any genre there is a new Author that is deserving of your attention and praise. Marshall Browne has made his debut with, "The Wooden Leg Of Inspector Anders". And Happily like Michael Dibdin and his, "Aurelio Zen" series, Mr. Browne has already begun on a second installment of his Italian inspector.

As I read his book Michael Browne reminded me of Michael Dibdin, John Le Carre, and the Author of, "A Small Death In Lisbon", Robert Wilson. Mr. Browne is an elegant and articulate writer. He writes at a contemplative cadence and avoids all manner of cliché. The latter is no small achievement as this is a story about the Mafia, and many great writers have tried their hand with this topic.

His writing pays attention to detail of the important sort, the ingredients of a certain native dish, rather than running on for pages with car chases, bomb making, or obligatory James Bond love disinterests. He writes with an authenticity that deserves notation for he lives in Australia, which is not exactly Sicily. And while any Author can visit that which he writes about, very few are able to place on paper their thoughts however worthy they might be.

Mr. Browne laces his work with historical fact that adds credibility and authenticity. He does not use it for a storyline he cannot create himself, or for details he does not know. This man is the genuine article, and if he can continue to write at the level he has set with this debut, he will become a writer of note, and share company with the legends in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders
Review: Here is a crime novel that started out like it was going to be one of the greats. But there came a point when I realized that it was not fulfilling its promise. It emerges instead as rather average.

This book is great on mood, and Marshall Browne establishes himself as quite the stylist. But when you strip away the layers of paranoia and hopelessness that make the book seem at first to be a powerful if bitter read, you get a story that does not involve much thought. The plot is very basic. There are the Good Guys and the Bad Guys; the White Hats and the Black Hats. The Good Guys want to bring the Bad Guys to justice, while the Bad Guys get nervous about this, and try to kill the Good Guys first. This leads merely to a lot of explosions and assassination attempts. Plus, Inspector Anders beds some women, even though each of these scenes suggests he is actually in love with whomever he is bedding at the time. Apparently, he invests deep meaning in each quickie. Yes, he has a lot of real love to spread around.

A few rogue elements do intrude on the plot, trying to stir up some novelty. A mysterious bearded figure wanders in and out of the action, possibly with his own agenda against one of the corrupt power-figures in the book; and a few of the mafia types are operating outside the accepted criminal scheme of things, as far as their still-nervous associates are concerned. But these "rogue elements" quickly reveal themselves to be variations on the same theme--the theme of people trying to bump each other off throughout the whole book, and not doing much else.

The book seemed cleverly cynical at the beginning, for example, when Inspector Anders went to question a series of people about two murders that have brought him to Southern Italy. Cleverly written, because the author has Anders show up for questioning, only for the questioning to basically get skipped or summarized as meaningless every time, because after all, Anders is questioning a bunch of people he knows will tell him useless lies as part of an investigation that he is not really supposed to succeed at, so the corrupt officials involved can stay safe. Seems like a deft author making a bleak statement about a sad state of affairs. The problem is: the author has nothing much of substance to fill these abbreviated scenes with! All the questioning sessions whiz by, but nothing of significance takes their place. And then the endless explosions and assassination attempts begin. As for Anders's final bold plan, I can't believe a group of veteran criminals could be that stupid! It stretches credibility that they wouldn't suspect the--well, I won't spill it.

Started out as a breath of fresh air, but couldn't hide its average approach. Three stars for the style and the sustained level of suspense. But the plot was very basic.

Rating:
Summary: Much More Than a Mystery
Review: Inspector Anders has a mission. And it's not to grapple with the Mafia. It's to retire and write a book about his underappreciated poet forbear, Anton Anders.

Sent by Rome to investigate the murders of an investigator and a magistrate, he intends to do as little as possible and then go home. What difference will it make anyway? Nothing will change and a real investigation will only get him dead. But he can't help it. He just has to side with the good guys against the philistines. How can you help but like and respect and cheer for this guy?

Next time, how about a collaboration? Anders meets Zen!

Rating:
Summary: Much More Than a Mystery
Review: Inspector Anders has a mission. And it's not to grapple with the Mafia. It's to retire and write a book about his underappreciated poet forbear, Anton Anders.

Sent by Rome to investigate the murders of an investigator and a magistrate, he intends to do as little as possible and then go home. What difference will it make anyway? Nothing will change and a real investigation will only get him dead. But he can't help it. He just has to side with the good guys against the philistines. How can you help but like and respect and cheer for this guy?

Next time, how about a collaboration? Anders meets Zen!

Rating:
Summary: One man against the Mafia in southern Italy--excellent
Review: Inspector Anders seems like the perfect man to complete the investigation of a southern Italian crime. He is a hero having lost a leg in Italy's battle against the Red Brigade, but he is also nearing retirement--unlikely to rock the boat. And rocking the boat is the last thing the establishment wants. It is much better to imagine that anarchists murdered the former judge than to admit that the Mafia and corruption rule southern Italy and can reach its power to the capitol in Rome and beyond. Anders is mostly content to go along--but he toys with the idea of doing more: of making a real investigation. If he does, though, he is unlikely to survive long enough to tell his story, let alone make a difference. The next inspector is unlikely to be so foolish.

As Anders goes through the motions of an investigation, he grows increasingly angry with the power of the Mafia, but also increasingly certain that he cannot make a difference. Yet even going through the motions can be dangerous and letting himself be swayed by the late judge's beautiful widow is clearly a mistake.

Author Marchall Browne writes a compelling adventure. Anders, with his wooden leg and perchant for older soft-bodied women and fine wine, makes an interesting and sympathetic hero. Browne's view of the Mafia as the dominant force in much of southern Italy is sadly credible and Ander's ultimate decision between pursuing his life's dream and doing something, however pointless, to damage the Mafia is emotionally satisfying.

I look forward to reading more novels by this talented author.

Rating:
Summary: Somebody here needs demoting
Review: Inspector Anders, he of the wooden leg and the constant ache for mature women with ..., is sent from Rome headquarters to a Southern city (Naples?) to investigate the assassination of as magistrate. Of course, nobody wants him to go to any sweat on this, as everything is tightly controlled by the mafia. He visits a few people and asks prearranged questions. Somehow, the mafia gets the idea that he is dangerous and must be eliminated. But, of course, the inspector has more brains than all of them taken together, although they have run this city for generations without a problem.

This book is like a copy of a bad Hollywood movie as they used to make them about the mafia - before they found out that these guys were not altogether stupid...

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic mystery
Review: Though a decade has passed since Inspector Anders performed his heroic investigation that shut down the New Dawn anarchist group, the media still considers him a hero. Perhaps it is the leg that he lost during the confrontation that makes him a model of a brave smart police officer. Anders feels otherwise. He went out on disability only to return in 1989 mostly doing desk work. Now three years later, he has one month left before he retires to his full pension.

Still, the brass sends Anders to Southern Italy to investigate the murders of Judge De Angelis and subsequently Magistrate Fabri. His superiors expect Anders to go through the motions and no more with their goal begin to shut up the judge's volatile widow. Anders understands that, but between "working" with local Detective Matucci and interviewing the widow he cannot help but return to the hero of '82 fully investigating what really happened to the Judge and the Magistrate.

THE WOODEN LEG OF INSPECTOR ANDERS is an insightful entertaining look at Italy through a police investigation. The story line succeeds because the audience actually observes a character study as the reader gets inside the head of Anders. Matucci and the widow are complex players who bring the best out of the weary Anders. Though a strong police procedural, Marshall Browne has provided much more with this in depth look at a near retirement, somewhat disabled, law enforcement official.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: a tremendous find
Review: With only one month to go before he officially retires, Inspector Anders of the Rome Police force, is not expected to create waves when he is sent to the South to investigate the assassination of Magistrate Fabri, who had himself been investigating the murder of Judge de Angelis. The official story is that both men had been killed by some new anarchist group. Will Anders endorse this politically accepted view, or is he a wildcard, with his own private agenda? This is the question that preoccupies the principal characters in this small unnamed southern city in "The Wooden Leg Of Inspector Anders."

Used to, by now, with the many compromises that one must make with the overwhelming corruption that one sees everywhere in order to survive, Anders is keen to have this investigation over and done with. He knows that both men were definitely not killed by a terrorist group, but rather by the Mafia; and that probably everyone at city hall, and the police, is in on the cover-up. However he feels no overwhelming need to rock the boat. And then he interviews the widow of Judge de Angelis. De Angelis had been investigating an insurance scam and the powerful players who seemed to be in on the scam. Almost certainly the Mafia had had a finger or two in this scam, and de Angelis was committed to discovering the wrongdoers and forcing them to face justice, when his armoured car was blown up. The manner of his assassination had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. De Angelis's widow, however refuses to accept this official and convenient view, insisting that the Mafia had her husband silenced because he dared to go up against them. And she desperately needs someone she can trust to play the role of avenging knight. Could Anders be the man she is looking for?

The impact of Carla de Angelis's grief, her quest (and her almost fanatical zeal) to see justice done, coupled with Anders's distaste for the 'chief suspects' in this case-- from the police chief, to slimy and violent Mayor Salvo, to the cold, manipulative and powerful businesswoman, Signora Contrera-Kant -- and the manner in which they keep blaming the terrorists for the deaths of both men, soon makes Anders decide to throw in his lot in with Carla de Angelis. This will be his final act of courage and honour. But Anders is up against the Mafia, a violent and powerful group that will stop at nothing to get their own way. Can a lone policeman, without any allies and alone in a foreign city, really accomplish anything against such overwhelming odds?

"The Wooden Leg Of Inspector Anders" is a terrifically great read. The novel opens a bit slowly at first, but it gathers momentum fast, and it wasn't too long before events were unfolding at a breath-neck pace, that it had me glued to the pages as tensions mounted and events moved to their inevitable conclusion. Marshall Browne really knows how to spin a yarn! This is a truly brilliant novel. The prose style is distinctive and evocative; and the characters are all cleverly depicted, eventhough Marshall Browne is very economical is his descriptions of them. Inspector Anders, even at the end of the novel, is still a slightly mysterious character, and that only adds to the mystic and charisma of the character. I'm sure that we will learn more and more of this fascinating character with each subsequent mystery novel.

I'm always excited when I come across a new mystery seires that I know I will have fun reading and rereading, and with "The Wooden Leg Of Inspector Anders" by Marshall Browne, I knew I was onto a tremendous find. This novel really made for engrossing and riveting reading. And I can hardly wait for the next Inspector Anders mystery novel.