Pushkin Vertigo is an imprint that has been doing a great job of publishing translations of mysteries from Europe and Asia.
The Disappearance of Signora Giulia by Piero Chiara is a great example of what a thoughtful, literary mystery can be in the hands of a great writer. Set near Milan, the novel stars Investigator Corrado Sciancalebre. (The name suggests something like Bold LameRabbit, which fits the character and would honestly be an awesome name for a parent who hates their child.) Sciancalebre has learned that Giulia, the wife of respected lawyer Esegreni, has suddenly disappeared after one of her Thursday outings. Sciancalebre becomes obsessed with the case. He limp-races towards a solution as new evidence becomes unearthed throughout the years. But Bold LameRabbit can’t quite catch up with the truth. Then there is the brilliant, abrupt conclusion that lets the reader make decisions and inferences. To discuss why The Disappearance of Signora Giulia is great is to discuss its ending- and the deeper questions it asks about the law- who makes them, who enforces them, who knows how to manipulate them.
The Master of the Day of Judgment by Leo Perutz is a unique, unforgettable, uneasy experience. In 1909, Baron Von Yosch attends a musical soiree that ends with the suicide of a semi-rival. Has Yosch really pushed the other man to his death with his suggestions, as everyone assumes? To clear himself, Yosch goes on a compelling investigative quest. More “suicides” surface. And who exactly is The Master of the Day of Judgment? (Renaissance scholars will have an investigative advantage). A compelling puzzle with a terrifying psychedelic detour. Perutz is little known in America- this is the first book of his I’ve read- but I was impressed.
She Who was No More and Vertigo, by the prolific writing team of Boileau-Narcejac (the French equivalents to Ellery Queen). The former was used for Clouzot’s Les Diaboliques, the latter for Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Two tales of men losing their bearings, and ofomen who may or may not be dead. Both are cleverly plotted, as anyone who’s seen their classic adaptations already knows.
HANSEL CASTRO'S HALLUCINA 