Venetian Bind
Series: Tri-Star Investigations #1
Author: Lawrence E. Rothstein
Genre: International Mystery
Setting: Venice
Release Date: May 15, 2024, by Wild Rose Press
Pages: 236
Summary:
In Venetian Bind, Detective Marko Korb and his associate Kelan Su, a Chinese-American woman, must hunt down a murderer and prevent a devasating terrorist attack in the romantic city of Venice.
Korb, a fat, egotistical, and brilliant detective, and Kelan Su, a former Chicago police officer, licensed attorney, and martial arts expert, arrive in Venice to investigate the murder of Stefan Pakulić, a former Serbian paramilitary leader and accused war criminal. The daughter of a Bosnian expat who had rescued Korb from Pakulić’s clutches during the war is a suspect in the killing. Korb is torn between finding the murderer and his sympathy for the Serbian’s killer—the Venetian bind.
The investigation leads to Pakulić’s connection with Italian neo-fascists planning a terrorist action in Venice. It takes Korb’s genius and the intrepid sleuthing of Su to find the murderer, forestall the terrorist action, and protect the daughter of Korb’s rescuer.
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Excerpt
With some help from Su and a uniformed officer, Korb managed the two steps into the police patrol boat. He sat gingerly, with a look of distaste, in the plastic cockpit chair. Since that last time on the lagoon, the detective hated boats. There was no place he felt less secure.
As the obese man tried to grip the sides of the seat that his immense derriere overlapped, the craft sped across the lagoon and down the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge, past Piazza San Marko to the Castello sestiere, one of the six districts that made up Venice. Standing behind Korb, Su, who had been a Chicago cop for four years, compared notes with a young officer about city police work.
Police headquarters was in a former Benedictine Abbey at Campo San Zaccaria. Rumor had it that the Abbey was a favorite trysting place of Casanova. He wouldn’t like it now. Despite a noble façade, the interior of the building looked like every big city police headquarters–dingy, in need of paint and polish, and furnished in surplus. Ramshackle cubicles were filled with seedy, worried characters–some police, some “customers.” Korb hated the stink of despair that hung over such places.
Inspector Mazzini’s office was not much of an improvement, although it had a window overlooking a side canal and a small cobblestone bridge. Mazzini stood and smiled as Korb and Su were ushered in by a crisply saluting, uniformed officer.
“So good to finally meet you, Signor Korb,” said Mazzini, vigorously shaking the detective’s flabby, but strong, hand. “Signorina Su, it is a very great pleasure to meet you as well.” The smile on his finely chiseled features brightened as he took her hand and looked her over in that appreciative and sexy manner that seemed to be instilled in Italian men from birth. “Please, sit down. Would you like an espresso?” Both visitors declined.
“Let’s get down to business, Inspector,” said Korb impatiently. “This is distasteful to me. I can’t say I am sorry that Pakulić is dead, or that I would like to see his killer in jail. But I have agreed to help. Please fill us in on the investigation so far.”
Mazzini explained that Pakulić had been found floating in the Canale di Cannaregio near Campo San Geremia. He had been shot in the head at close range and either fell or pushed into the canal. No exit wound.
“The time of death?” Korb interrupted.
“Between two a.m. and three a.m. on Sunday morning, 11 May 2014. At approximately one-fifty-five he was seen leaving the casino at the Palazzo Vendramin-Calergi with at least three other people. We haven’t yet been able to identify them. It’s a ten-minute walk to the place where the body was found. Residents along the Rio Terra San Leonardo, a walkway that leads from the casino to the scene of the crime, thought they heard two shots around two-thirty. A water taxi driver returning to the depot saw the body floating at three and called the police.”
About the Author
I am a retired lawyer and university professor who has published in constitutional law, privacy law, political theory and labor law. Born and raised in Chicago, I am now residing with my wife and family in beautiful southern Rhode Island. I have lived and traveled widely in Europe. As an avid reader of crime fiction, I have always wanted to write detective novels. As a lover of food and cooking, I include many scrumptious meals and some recipes in my novel and on my website.
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Giveaway
Prize: Meeting of the Minds : A Korb and Su Tri-Star Investigations Prequel about how Korb & Su got together. & $10.00 Amazon Gift Card from Dollycas
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Thanks. Looks really good.