Next Book Club Meeting: Tuesday 29 October at 17:30 in the Members Bar
Written by Member: Ian Pendleton
“Blood on the Altar by Tobias Jones– 2012
The Bookclub this month got their teeth into Tobias Jones’s 2012 true crime thriller ‘Blood on the Altar’. Set in the southern Italian province of Basilicata (Italy’s least visited region) the book is part travel guide, cultural history, critique of the dark heart of Italy and most importantly reported in real time on the 18-year search by the family of 16 year old Elisa Clap. Elisa had left for mass one Sunday morning, and vanished.
It was a very Italian story, that explained how the chief suspect was protected by his powerful family, the Church and the Italian legal system. Only when the killer struck again did the truth start to emerge.
Amongst the horror of the coverups and corruption the courage and unwavering focus of the Claps family to find Elisa and bring the killer to justice was deeply admired by the Bookclub. All agreed it was a book with fascinating insights, and a riveting pursuit of justice. The highly disturbed killer, with his multiple crimes and strange obsession with the hair of his victims, left a disturbing aftertaste that was only partially addressed by his remaining in prison until at least 2050.
It was agreed that this account of a murder was in many ways stranger than fiction. Scores for the book were 7-8 out of 10. Three-line summaries included ‘Deep Italian Cover-up’, ‘Lionheart, Liars and Lickspittles’ and ‘Applause for Claps’. “
We will be discussing “Lioness” by Emily Perkins in our upcoming Book Club Meeting on Tuesday 29 October at 17:30 – don’t miss out on the chance to share your thoughts!
