Marco Malvaldi


Marco Malvaldi is an Italian crime writer.

Short biography

Marco Malvaldi is an Italian chemist and novelist, who began his writing career in 2007 with his first mystery story La briscola in cinque, published by the Italian Sellerio Editore and featuring Massimo, the barista and owner of the cleverly named BarLume who is forced into the role of investigator in the fictional seaside resort town of Pineta, along the Tuscan coast. He followed up by other episodes in the series: Il gioco delle tre carte, Il re dei giochi , La carta più alta . Another novel of his, Odore di chiuso , a historical mystery with the renowned Romagna gastronomist Pellegrino Artusi as the amateur detective in 19th century Italy, was awarded the Isola d’Elba Award and the Castiglioncello Prize. This book was published in English under the title The Art of Killing Well. In October 2011, Malvaldi also published a guidebook about his own hometown Pisa, with the title Scacco alla Torre : one of the book's first stories is Finalmente soli , narrating of a nocturnal walk, inspired by an image taken by professional photographer Nicola Ughi, Malvaldi's official portraitist and fellow citizen; the book was presented at the Pisa Book Festival.
by night, which inspired the story Finalmente soli.
The four books comprising the BarLume series, have the same characters in each episode: the barista Massimo, the four aged regular patrons, obtuse Inspector Fusco, and sexy bar assistant Tiziana. At end of October 2012, Malvaldi published a mystery thriller, Milioni di milioni , set in the fictional Tuscan town of Montesodi Marittimo, and with its main personages an odd couple of investigators – a university geneticist and a female archivist.
In July 2013 he was awarded the Italian literary prize "Premio letterario La Tore Isola d'Elba".
Malvaldi authored also books of popular science. His book Le due teste del tiranno. Metodi matematici per la libertà won the third edition of for the best book in scientific dissemination published in Italy, in ex aequo with Helen Czerski's Storm in a Teacup.

Selected bibliography