Marco Malvaldi is an
Italian chemist and novelist, who began his writing career in 2007 with his first mystery story
La briscola in cinque (
Game for Five, 2014), published by the Italian
Sellerio Editore and featuring Massimo, the
barista and owner of the cleverly named BarLume ("Bar Light", also a wordplay for "flicker, glimmer of light") 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 (2008, transl.
Three-card Monte, 2014),
Il re dei giochi (The King of Games) (2010),
La carta più alta (The Highest Card) (2012). Another novel of his,
Odore di chiuso (The Scent of Must) (Sellerio, October 2011), 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 (2014). In October 2011, Malvaldi also published a guidebook about his own hometown
Pisa, with the title
Scacco alla Torre (Checkmate to the Tower) (Felici Editore): one of the book's first stories is
Finalmente soli (Finally Alone), 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 composing the
BarLume series have the same characters in each episode: the
barista Massimo, the four aged regular patrons (Massimo's grandfather Ampelio, Aldo, Rimediotti, and Del Tacca – often speaking in the local
Tuscan dialect), obtuse Inspector Fusco, and sexy bar assistant Tiziana. At end of October 2012, Malvaldi published a mystery thriller,
Milioni di milioni (Millions of Millions) (2012), 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 has also authored books of popular science. His book
Le due teste del tiranno. Metodi matematici per la libertà (namely,
The Two Heads of the Tyrant. Mathematical Methods for the Freedom) (2017) won the third edition (2018) of Premio Asimov. He is married to Samantha Bruzzone, with whom he wrote some children's stories and two novels with her:
Chi si ferma è perduto (2022) e
La regina dei sentieri (2024). ==Bibliography==