Women Sleuths

Before heading to her evening shift as an investigator for Phoenix Seven, an Italian liaison unit that works with the U.S. military in Naples, Nikki Serafino is relaxing on the sailboat she co-owns with her friend, undercover cop Valerio Alfieri, when they rescue a woman who has been abandoned in the bay by her abusive boyfriend. As they head back to port, the Calypso’s keel strikes a decomposing body; Nikki notes the ligature marks on the man’s neck. The next day, while assisting a U.S. serviceman and his family in the wake of a traffic accident, she discovers another murder victim, this time one who’s been shot to death. After the bodies are identified as American naval officers, Nikki must conduct a tricky balancing act of partnering with both NCIS Special Agent Durant Cole and the Italian police in the investigation of possible links between the killings. Could the Camorra Mafia be involved? At the same time, Nikki’s intense family drama, involving the recent loss of her American mother, a loser brother in deep debt to local gangsters, and a tumultuous relationship with her controlling boyfriend, Enzo, threaten to derail her probe. Heider, who lived in Naples for several years and deployed as a civilian analyst aboard U.S. and European naval ships, makes an impressive debut with this engrossing thriller that captures both the baroque beauty and gritty danger of Italy’s third-largest city. It also introduces a tattooed, kick-ass female protagonist (“Nikki was short and compact and muscular with a dynamic, interesting face”) who may remind some readers of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander but without that character’s severe asocial tendencies. If there is a minor flaw, it’s that the Heider’s vividly drawn Italian characters far outshine her dull American counterparts. An enjoyable summer read.