Three fugitives, Sophie, Stuart and Helen, find refuge on a hill above Florence-Fiesole in a house concealed by a jungle of bush, trees and threatening lianas. Their new lives are idyllic until they’re swept up into the cold reality of crime occurring in the collusion of the city police and a secret freemasonic lodge.
While researching his work on Dante, their host, Pierluigi Da Molino called Pigi—a genius, chess champion, ex-Mayor of Fiesole, legendary inventor of already invented things—discovers evidence of the new secret lodge. His find leads to three linked murders, a discovery for which he pays a terrible price.
Intellectual detectives who speak of morality and beauty oppose an immoral Chief of Detectives, killer and torturer, who represents the corrupt police in cahoots with rogue freemasons. Crime and corruption and the groves of dark cypresses swaying on hillcrests infect the story with mystery and a sense of the same things happening again and again.
In this atmosphere of uncertainty, the surrealistic cinematographic scene of an event in a hilltop restaurant unfolds along the edge of fantasy: … the entire Cipresso trattoria of cooks, meat slicers, trimmers, cutters, bartenders and diners united in a show of gaiety, bloody aproned waiters serving enormous Chiana steaks to bloodthirsty diners leaning toward the servers like sightseers against the railing of a 120th floor skyscraper terrace, each hoping to carry away souvenir smears and stains of the quality Chiana blood. The smells of beef, beer and alcohol whorl in the air, enriched with what sensitive souls identify as testosterone.
This story interweaves history with current events, a crime mystery with a deep philosophical dive. It is a good read with both unexpected twists and equally unexpected insights. With all of that, it remains a human story with relatable characters.
Rowan Wolf |
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| Author BIO |
| Gaither Stewart |
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Gaither Stewart regularly writes at the intersection of history, fiction, and his own considerable experience as bothwriter and citizen of the world. This brings a poignancy to his writing, mixed with the very human struggles of self and relationship that frequently occur at historical crucibles such as WWII, the cold war, western imperialism in Mexico and South America - as in this collection of short stories - or the contemporary military chess moves - as in his Europa Trilogy: The Trojan Spy, Lily Pad Roll, and Time of Exile. In Signs of the Time, the reader takes a journey with ordinary people who are each extraordinary in their own way. We see the world through their eyes. This is the gift of Stewart’s art and is amply demonstrated in this fine collection of short stories.
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| Other Publication By Gaither Stewart |
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