Blog tour: Flowers Over The Inferno by Ilaria Tuti @Ilaria_Tuti @WNBooks @GigiCroft#FlowersOverTheInferno

Hello, welcome to my blog for my day of the ‘Flowers Over The Inferno’ tour that has been organised by Tracy, who i’d like to thank for giving me the opportunity to read and review this excellent book. ‘Flowers Over The Inferno’ was written by Ilaria Tuti and translated from Italian by Ekin Oklap. this is the first novel in the Teresa Battaglia thriller trilogy. Published by  WN Books, an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group.

This read will be available for all your book buying needs on the 7th of February in various formats, including hardback, e-book and audible.

About The Author

Ilaria Tuti lives in Friuli, in the far north-eastern part of Italy. FLOWERS OVER THE INFERNO, her debut novel and the first book in the Teresa Battaglia trilogy, was a top 10 bestseller on publication and the biggest debut of 2018 in Italy.

The Blurb

“An idyllic village in the alps.
A legacy of sin.
An evil lurking in the woods.

In a quiet village surrounded by the imposing Italian Alps, a series of violent assaults take place.
Police inspector and profiler Teresa Battaglia is called in when the first body is found, a naked man whose face has been disfigured and eyes gouged out. Soon more victims are discovered – all horrifically mutilated – and when a new-born baby is kidnapped, Teresa’s investigation becomes a race against the clock.
But Teresa is also fighting a battle against her own body, weighed down by age and diabetes, and her mind, once invincible and now slowly gnawing away at her memory…”

What I Thought

I’d like to begin with the main character Teresa Battaglia who is the police officer and profiler on the gruesome murders. She is one of the strongest, bad ass leads of a novel that I have read in quite some time. Although her health isn’t as great and has succumbed to the effects of aging; she is in her sixties after all, she radiates strength and independence. In the writers own words:

“At an age when women are so often pushed aside, Teresa refuses to surrender”

You can feel that, you can feel the passion that her character has to right the wrongs of the world, this is very much to do with the dark past that she has experienced. I, as a reader and as a women identified with the foundation of Teresa’s character that is ultimately the strength of women, also the wit that woman has will be the warmth through the chill of this read. I loved her from the start.

The dynamic of the characters interaction, mainly Battaglia and Marini seems so free-flowing, it feels like they fall into a slightly strict maternal / son relationship, especially in the way that they both seem to be able to learn from one another. They make a very great crime fighting duo!

This read left me feeling very goosepimply and quite truthfully creeped out due to the pretence of the character’s feeling like they are being watched. Also the inclusion of the murder detail that eyes have been gouged out *shivers*.This was the way that I felt throughout a majority of the book; freaked out.

I thought that Ilaria produced a really great storyline that grabbed your attention and kept you engrossed, like a fish on a hook. The descriptions are really vivid, especially that the author has used authentic details concerning the forensic psychological profile development. I like to feel that I learn something from each read, this time it was the difference between organised and disorganised murderers. Although the concept of the book is chilling, it still contained beautiful setting description, such as:

“There was a primitive beauty about that landscape, the kind that made you lose your bearings. Snow capped peaks towered over a millennial forest soaring like dull blades over a thick woodland carpet”

You could almost feel the cold of the snow and imagine the scenery that this tale of murder was set in. Very contrasting don’t you think? Dark red blood on fresh white snow.

I am a self – proclaimed thriller addict, I have to remind myself sometimes to break it up a little and read something different. Flowers Over The Inferno is one of those thrillers that us reading junkies just love turning the pages to, it may as well have been glued to my hands because I couldn’t put it down. I read it in two days with such intrigue.

I would recommend this read to everyone and anyone who enjoys a thrilling procedural read, with a few heart wrenching moments scattered throughout, where you may feel such empathy towards the characters. I also enjoyed that the storyline was written from various voices as it offered a wider view that just Teresa’s which for me gives a storyline layering, as well as depth.

Overall, brilliantly written book and I really can’t wait for the next book of the Teresa Battaglia trilogy! Highly recommended!

---

Thank-you again for visiting and reading my thought on Flowers Over The Inferno! For other reviews tune in to the following (and visit the previous) days of the tour.

Thank-you again to Tracy for the opportunity to me onboard the tour, as well as WN Books for the electronic copy of Flowers Over The Inferno to read and review! I highly recommend this read!

Have you read Flowers Over The Inferno? What were your thoughts? I’d love to know!

---

Links
Amazon purchasing link here.
Twitter: @Ilaria_Tuti