The Monster of Florence is really two stories, each shocking in its own way. Douglas Preston, a mystery writer, travels to Italy to research a novel and meets with Mario Spezi, a well-respected crime journalist, to learn about Italy's justice system. Spezi ends up telling Preston a tale much more interesting than the one he'd been planning to write that of a series of horrific murders committed between 1968 and 1985. Spezi was on duty the evening of the first murder and knows the details of the case that, in his opinion, has never been satisfactorily solved. This is the first story that Preston recounts (sort of In Cold Blood-style), of the murders themselves and the trail of evidence that leads to a man whom he and Spezi both consider the murderer.

The second story concerns the decades-long investigation that surrounded the case. The Italian justice system certainly doesn't come off well in the book (and nor should it), as this case has been hijacked by a frenzied media and a nearly schizophrenic prosecutor and has led to the accusation of multiple innocent (or imagined) parties. The wild conspiracy theories can't seem to get crazier until the prosecutor, troubled by the evidence that Spezi and Preston are bringing to light in their journalistic investigation, turns on them. Spezi and Preston are not simply bystanders telling a story; this story sucks them in.

It's a true and brutal and weird story, and as such, it have as neat of an ending, with any Poriot tying up the case, that some readers seem to want. The story's real, and it's not over yet. But what a story this is. And Preston and Spezi have told it well. Readers should certainly be horrified by the story but fascinated, too.

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