The Man in Milan

At the start of Racanelli’s entertaining debut, NYPD detectives Paul Rossi and Hamilton Turner examine the body of Gaetano Muro in the gutter of an East Side Manhattan street. The pair initially identify Muro as an Italian diplomat, but an interview with his estranged wife raises questions when she tells them she has no idea where her husband has been living or how he made ends meet. However, she does know that he had been receiving threatening phone calls. The murders of two other people connected to Muro raise the ante. Facing resistance from the NYPD bureaucracy and the Italian consulate in New York City, Rossi and Turner decide to go to Italy in search of answers. The detectives become convinced that the deaths are related to the real-life 1980 Ustica plane disaster, in which 81 people died. Exciting action sequences play out against a travelogue background. The protagonists each have a full complement of vices, virtues, and quirks, which will serve them well in any future adventures. Hopefully, they’ll be back soon. Agent: Priya Doraswamy, Lotus Lane Literary. (Oct.)