Michele Ferrera Books In Order

Publication Order of Michele Ferrara Books

The Michele Ferrera Series by Michele Guittari are crime fiction novels set in crime-ridden Florence in Tuscany. Giuttari was born in Messina in 1950 and was a police officer in the Italian Police from 1978 to 2003 when he retired, having risen to the rank of Chief of Florence Police. He first served in Calabria in Southern Italy, then Naples before he got a promotion and was sent to Florence, the provincial capital of Tuscany. In Florence, he served in the anti-mafia squad following an incident in which 48 people died and three paintings the Uffizi art gallery were destroyed by a car bomb in the city center. Giuttari was responsible for the investigation into the case and several other that led to the arrest and conviction of key mafia figures and the reopening of the “Monster of Florence” criminal case. After 32 years of service in the police force, he retired to become adviser to the interior minister. He would also have a special brief of keeping tabs on mafia activity. Michele Guittari has asserted that the lead of the Michele Ferrera series is him and that many of his adventures are loosely based on his work with the Italian police. He writes of beautiful Tuscan hills, mafia connections, kidnapping, prison breaks, and the occult in a horrifying yet intriguing page-turning fiction. He currently lives in Germany from where he writes his novels.

Michele Ferrara of the Michele Ferrara series is the workaholic Chief of Police in Florence, a city known to be full of mafia activity and crime. He spends almost 18-hour a day working on a range of criminal cases, fueled by strong coffee and Cuban cigars. The little time he gets at night he retires to his apartment in the city center, where he spends the time going over case notes and taking small breaks taking in the views of the Ponte Vecchio. Below him on the Florentine streets are the sounds of mopeds carrying Florentines and tourists alike going about their business oblivious of the man keeping the city safe. Just like his author Michele Ferrara is a tough character that does not fear anyone and goes for the toughest cases that nobody else would touch. He has developed his own ways of conducting investigations that do not rely only on tools and procedures but rather puts old fashioned police work at the center of it. Unlike other officers Michele brings his professional intuition and experience into cracking cases, which is what makes him so successful at what he does. He uses scientific input from time to time but for the most part he relies on the tested classic method of evidence gathering which he has found to be most effective. The series is about a series of murders in which not only Michele is the lead character but also the city of Florence, the setting of the series.

“A Florentine Death” the first novel of the Michele Ferrara series is a chilling mystery about a ruthless serial killer that gives an ice-cold look into police work and crime. It all started with a grisly homicide for Superintendent Ferrara, who has now lived in Florence for so long that it is practically home. Upon investigating the circumstances of the homicide, they uncover some puzzling things about the victim. As the body count begins to rise, he learns that the murders are sexually motivated. But then Michele gets some death threats of his own and the press and superiors are not too pleased that he has so far failed to crack the case. Meanwhile, Valentina Preti has fallen for an American journalist named Mike Ross, who she came to know while he was working on a story in Italy. But she also has mixed feelings for Cinzia Roberti, who was her lover and friend. Even as she forms a relationship with Mike, she finds out that there are a lot of things Mike has never told her and is not interested in telling her. Ferrara is working day and night to find the man who seemingly has something against gays. His search for the truth takes him on a manhunt across Italy and deep into the killer’s past.

“A Death In Tuscany” the second novel of the series is set in Scandicci, a picturesque city of Tuscany. The police just discovered the body of a scantily dressed girl killed and dumped on the edge of the nearby woods. It has been weeks and despite a lot of resources being poured into the investigations, the police are yet to identify who she is, let alone find out the perpetrators of her murder. Chief Superintendent Michele Ferrara is frustrated and as head of the Squadra Mobile elite unite he takes over the case. Given that the autopsy had found toxins in her blood, the police had assumed that she had taken an overdose of drugs to commit suicide. But Michele Ferrara is not buying it as he believes that there is more to this than meets the eye. His investigations soon prove him right and it is not long before he develops a conspiracy theory tied into the girl’s death. He thinks that the case of his long lost best friend may in fact be connected to the current homicide. The more he digs, the more he is convinced that there is a wider conspiracy at play that may have deep roots that may reach the very foundations of his community.

“The Death of a Mafia Don” the third novel of the Michele Ferrara series opens to a bomb explosion in the Florence CBD. Ferrara the head of the elite Squadra Mobile unit is seriously injured in the explosion, even as his driver is killed. As special advisor to the interior minister and the man charged with keeping an eye on the mafia, it is theorized that the attack may be from the mob. They may have been acting in revenge to the recent prosecution and conviction of Salvatore Laprua, a notorious mafia boss that was set to serve many years in prison. Petra who is Ferrara’s wife has been on his case asking him to retire before the mafia got to him but he would have none of it. But now that he is in the hospital, the mafia thinks he is more vulnerable than ever. Another bomb goes off killing someone very close to him. They thought he would leave them alone but he is more convinced than ever to get his enemies. But then Salvatore Laprua is found dead in his cell and suddenly no one knows just who is behind the bombings and assassinations.