Game for Five

“In this enjoyable series debut,” four colorful old timers meet regularly a small-town bar in Tuscany, where they gossip, play cards, and solve murders (Publishers Weekly).   At Bar Lume, in a small resort village on the Tuscan coast, between shots of espresso and hands of cards, four old-timers and Massimo the barman wile away the time chatting, arguing, and theorizing about the murder of a young woman in their town.   The girl’s body was found in a dumpster bin on the edge of town. The gossip circulating about the victim’s lifestyle suggests her murder was connected to the seedy world of drug trafficking and dangerous sex. The prime suspects in the case are two of the girl’s nightlife associates. But for want of something to do, the group of pensioners at Bar Lume begin to pull the case to pieces, forcing the barman Massimo into the role of amateur sleuth.   The four old-timers analyze the crime and the suspects, putting a comic spin on their often narrow-minded neighbors. From this “investigation,” in Marco Malvaldi’s lively and colorful prose, emerges a fascinating picture of life in a small Italian town.