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What it argues
Between 1974 and 1985, a serial killer known as the Monster of Florence murdered sixteen people — couples parked in cars in the hills outside the city — and was never conclusively identified. Douglas Preston, an American thriller writer who moved to Florence with his family in 2000, became fascinated by the case and began investigating it with Mario Spezi, the Italian journalist who had covered the murders from the beginning. The Monster of Florence is their joint account — part true crime, part memoir of an investigation that eventually turned on its authors.
The Italian prosecution of the Monster case became increasingly bizarre over the decades. After several likely suspects died in prison or were acquitted, prosecutors developed a theory that the murders were committed for a Satanic cult of wealthy Florentines who used the victims' body parts in rituals. The theory was supported by almost no evidence. Preston and Spezi's investigation challenged it, and the consequences were severe: Spezi was arrested and charged with being the Monster himself, and Preston was interrogated by Italian police who suggested he was a suspect as well. Preston was told to leave the country. He did.
What it gets right
- 1.
The Monster of Florence murdered sixteen victims over eleven years and was never definitively identified. Multiple investigations produced different suspects, and the case remains officially unsolved.
- 2.
Italian prosecutors developed a Satanic cult theory to explain the murders that was not supported by credible evidence. The pursuit of that theory derailed the investigation for years and eventually ensnared the journalists covering it.
- 3.
Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor behind the cult theory, later prosecuted Amanda Knox in a separate case. Preston's portrait of him is one of the book's lasting contributions — a case study in how prosecutorial conviction becomes self-reinforcing.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Douglas Preston is an American author best known for his thriller novels, many written with co-author Lincoln Child, including the Pendergast series. He lived in Florence from 2000 to 2001, which brought him into the Monster case. He has also written nonfiction, including The Lost City of the Monkey God, about his participation in a LiDAR-guided archaeological expedition in Honduras. Preston is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and has written on subjects ranging from forensic science to dinosaur paleontology.
