Death of an Englishman written by Magdalen Nabb is a suspenseful detective story.It is just before Christmas and Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia wanted to go South to spend the holiday with his wife and family, but first, he must recover from the flu. At this time, Bacci, an inexperienced trainee police officer at the police station, received a call to report a murder. A respectable retired Englishman, living in a flat on the Via Maggio was shot in the back during the night. Marshal managed to figure out what happened, and why with the assistance of Bacci and two officers from Scotland Yard. The marshal, who was calm, observant, and quick in mind, finally found the murderer and solved the case. The cleaner Cipolla told Marshal Salvatore Guarnaccia his wife named Milena was going to die because they had no money to cure the disease. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life inside the house, she wanted to work. The dead Englishman took on Milena as a cleaner but he didn't pay her so Cipolla went to Englishman 's flat and shot him almost accidentally. But in the process of solving the case, our marshal also exposed the problem of being too independent and not good at cooperation.
Marshal is a relatively autocratic person who is not willing to communicate with others and listen to others' opinions in the process of case investigation. During the investigation, the marshal sent Bacci to the scene to investigate, but he did not believe the information reported by Bacci. He went to the deceased's apartment again to investigate this in person with his illness. He is also unwilling to share his analysis and judgment of the case with his fellow detectives. Every time Bacci said his thoughts on the case, the marshal mocked Bacci for his inexperience in investigating the case and ruthlessly attacked Bacci's enthusiasm as a fairly good policeman. Bacci didn’t receive much professional training. If Marshal was willing to be patient and guide him. I think that with Bacci's love for police work, he can quickly be competent in his work and become a really good assistant to Marshal.
On the other hand, Marshal is an excellent detective who is quick in thinking and good at grasping details. Marshal knew the specific time of the crime by asking a few simple questions about the Englishman's neighbors. Especially when he asked Miss White about the strange behavior of the deceased Englishman, Miss White told him that the strangest thing about the deceased was that he kept changing furniture in the early morning. Through this clue, Marshal found that the dead Englishman was an accomplice of a group that smuggled cultural relics. It must be said that the marshal's detective mind is admirable, which is in contrast to his bad attitude towards others. It is precisely because of such a detective with contrasting personalities that the whole investigation process is more exciting.
Marshal is also a thoughtful detective who loves to seek the truth. At the beginning of the murder, the marshal lying on the bed because of the flu. Although he was sick, he went to the scene in person, showing his dedication to detective work. When the maid was shot in the elevator of the apartment, Marshal heard Bacci's description of the man who had taken the elevator after the crime and his behavior before the maid was shot, he had already guessed that it was the cleaner Cipolla who hid the guns that killed the Englishman. However, he did not arbitrarily arrest him but invited him to come and listen to the reason and process of his story patiently. I think when Marshal learned that Cipolla accidentally shot the Englishman in order to get justice for his wife, he was still very sad and indignant about what happened to Cipolla.
In conclusion, Marshal is problematic but also an excellent and thoughtful detective. On one hand, he has a quick mind and is keen to find the truth of the case. He deserves to be an excellent detective. At the end of the story, he found the murderer, but he still patiently asked the cleaner to tell his story and understand the reason for his crime. In this respect, Marshal is also a sympathetic and thoughtful detective. On the other hand, Marshal likes to work independently and does not communicate and share information with other detectives. He was especially a little harsh on Bacci, his subordinate. He did not teach Bacci detective skills, but always expressed dissatisfaction with his work, which mercilessly attacked Bacci's enthusiasm to be a policeman. The author has created Marshal with a contradictory personality. I think the author reflects on the contradictory life of the cleaner Cipolla and his wife at the bottom of society who want to work hard to change their destiny but are ultimately ruthlessly exploited.
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