Synopsis

A former fascist with his throat slit can only mean one thing: political revenge. Sure, the war ended nearly twenty years ago, Marione Orsi had repented of his past and now only beat the bass drum. But some ill wills last a long time, or so Brigadier Cantatore thinks. Case closed. So why do the murders continue? As the renowned town band finds itself playing "The Legend of the Piave" at every rehearsal with one less voice, fear begins to spread. And the handsome Commissioner Eriberto Passalacqua, summoned from Lucca to investigate the matter, finds himself dealing with a rather unusual group of suspects: a frustrated horn player, two glamorous clarinetists with jealous husbands (who are also hunters and therefore armed), not to mention a perpetual virgin, a blasphemous innkeeper, and the mechanic from Castelnuovo... Too many clues are confusing, and too many bodies are piling up in the Apennine mountains, scarred by quarries, where the woods hide the sea's horizon and gossip covers the truth. Pierfrancesco Poggi brings the Alta Versilia of the early 1960s to life in a plot that brings characters and events to the fore as if on a stage. A thriller that has the charm of oral narration and the pace of a play, sparkling with linguistic invention, tenderness, suspense, and fun.