The Mannequin Man
Luca Di Fulvio
Bitter Lemon, January 2007, $14.95
ISBN 1904738133

In Italy, his passion is taxidermy. He accomplishes his craft in two clever steps. First he captures his prey and then he completes the conversion. Both stages provide his sadistic tendencies with euphoria, as he appreciates the kill as much, if not more so than the transformation. Still, he remains ever diligent and careful not to make any mistakes, especially since some of his subjects are human, though he leaves behind mutilated corpses using taxidermist threads to complete his trophy.

Chief Inspector Giacomo Amaldi knows he is dealing with a brilliant serial killer at a time when he already feels overwhelmed. The garbage strike has turned the city into a big dump, making all investigations smell worse than usual, while a questionable fire at the nearby orphanage should be tying up his time. Instead he walks among the trash seeking clues to a deadly killer one stitch at a time.

THE MANNEQUIN MAN is an excellent Italian serial killer thriller that uses satirical symbolism to delineate the human condition. Amaldi is a fascinating character, as he wades through garbage in search of clues that will enable him to identify the killing taxidermist, while his adversary is brilliant at both of his crafts. Police procedural fans will want to follow the Chief Inspector as he struggles to separate the trash from the clues.