Daughter of Ashes is the third and possibly final instalment in Italian author Ilaria Tuti’s Teresa Battaglia series. It follows on from Painted in Blood in 2022, which was also published as The Sleeping Nymph. This bittersweet conclusion takes place a mere 20 days after the close of the Sleeping Nymph case and is set in the Italian Alps.

In Daughter of Ashes, past and present merge when Teresa Battaglia – now in her mid-60s and at a crossroads in her career – is forced to confront her past, both figuratively and literally.

Link to rest of review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/daughter-of-ashes-ilaria-tuti-transl-ekin-oklap/

Ilaria Tuti’s The Sleeping Nymph (aka Painted in Blood) was a criminally good character-driven crime thriller featuring an uncommonly authentic ensemble cast led by the fabulous Superintendent Teresa Battaglia.

Now ‘fabulous’ is the last word Teresa would use to describe herself — a gruff, cursing senior diabetic woman who is carrying a few too many pounds along with the baggage that comes with an abusive marriage and a career profiling serial killers. But her hard-nut exterior belies her maternal drive to protect those she cares about at all costs.

In Book 3, Daughter of Ashes, as always, there are few evils Teresa is not prepared to look straight in the eye, and this makes for utterly gripping reading. However, Alzheimer’s is proving a tougher foe, and that is where Tuti’s wonderful ensemble cast shine so bright and strong in this outing.

Once again Tuti’s lush narrative and deft plotting, skilfully translated by Ekin Oklap, defies categorisation. In Daughter of Ashes readers are treated to evocative literary depiction, multiple narrative perspectives – including one ancient, Teresa’s experience 27 years prior and present day, and that of a serial killer – and moments of both heart-in-your-mouth tension and suspense, and deeply moving personal interaction.

If you enjoy literary prose and atypical lead characters and have a stomach for confronting crime, then I highly recommend this series.

While Teresa has now retired (what a swan song!), I sincerely hope Tuti pens a spin-off series featuring one or more of the second-tier characters that shine so bright in Daughter of Ashes.

Daughter of Ashes is the amazing conclusion to Ilaria Tuti's trilogy that began with Flowers Over the Inferno and The Sleeping Nymph. In it, readers are finally allowed to see Teresa Battaglia's entire history: her genius for crime solving, the misogyny she's had to endure throughout her career, and-- most telling and important of all-- her personal life away from the job. Her personal history is a factor in the relationship between Battaglia and the top-notch team she's trained. They are her children, "her boys", and there's nothing that they wouldn't do for each other.

If Inspector Massimo Marini and the rest of the team had their way, they would never be without her, but Daughter of Ashes is a bittersweet tale indeed. Teresa Battaglia's dementia is worsening. "This illness was toying with her life like a breeze with a dry leaf," and she knows she must retire before she becomes a liability. But she can't quit just yet because, once and for all, she must deal with serial killer, Giacomo Mainardi. One of the best things about this book is its humanity, and that compassion and empathy extend to Mainardi. Readers can-- and will be-- appalled at what Mainardi does, but once his own personal history is revealed, he becomes a truly sympathetic character.

Yes, the mystery is intriguing, but the characters remain first and foremost in my mind, the lead in particular. Teresa Battaglia's life is a triumph of will and endurance that is ultimately betrayed by her mind. Ilaria Tuti's portrayal of her is so vivid that I feel as though I know her.

Enjoyable and atmospheric read about an aging alzheimer’s-prone detective, with regret in her past, but also a cherished friend who assists her, and her coming to terms with the wrap-up of a historic case she worked on years before. While there is a lot of sadness the readers grapples with, the story is uplifting and involving.

This is one of my favorite series and I believe this is the best mystery I have read so far.

An Italian police superintendent finds herself on a collision course with her past in order to solve a murder in the present. Teresa Battaglia, dealing with the devastating diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and recovering from a brutal previous case, much call on all her reserves to relive memories of the past she would rather keep buried away forever. Will she have the strength to handle the present?

The descriptive writing in this book is superb and the interaction among the characters touching and heart warming. You cannot help but be impressed by the main character; her strength, her resilience and her incredible mind.

I thought this may be the last in this series but from the dramatic ending, I’m not so sure.

This book is set to be published in December, 2023.

There is a lot going on in this novel. Teresa Battaglia, a sharp and seasoned detective who leads a group of investigators under a hostile prosecutor, reconnects with a serial killer from her past who has something important to tell her. Teresa, meanwhile, is in physically bad shape from a previous injury and, though she has kept it secret from her team, she sees signs of the onset of dementia. The story takes us back to her early days, when she was pregnant and living with a violent, abusive spouse while finding her feet as a detective. It takes us even further back to the end of the Roman empire, following the path of an adherent of an Egyptian religious sect.

It's all a little confusing, very atmospheric, and emotionally fraught as the protagonist wrestles with her profession, both at its beginning and at the end. If you're looking for realism, this may not be for you, but if you're looking for something that's deeply felt and eerie, it might fit the bill. This is the third and, I believe, the final entry in this series, giving it a beginning and ending all in one.

"Daughter of Ashes" is a solid crime thriller that is gripping and atmospheric. The leading detective,Teresa Battaglia, is battling dementia while working to solve the crime, which bring depth to her character and the story. Recommended for fans of strong and unusual female leads, and crime series' in beautiful places (this is set in Italy). Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.