In Mark Frutkins new Canadian novel Fabrizio's Return (Knopf Canada; 312 pages) Romes Sherlock is Michele Archenti, an advocate sent to Cremona, Italy, a village in the Lombardy plains. He's there to investigate the nomination of Fabrizio Cambiati, a priest and healer who lived in the 17th century, 76 years earlier. From the villagers, who would love nothing more than to have a hometown saint, Archenti hears fantastical tales of Cambiati's miracles: he floated among the clouds, cured the sick, revived the dead, made cathedrals appear out of thin air. It has grown so out of hand, Archenti writes in his journal, "the people believe they are being healed by him before they become sick. How am I to separate proof from hopes and dreams?"
A self-proclaimed non-believer when it comes to miracles, Archenti sinks further into doubt about the candidate and about himself. He cannot complete his investigation until he learns Cambiati's darkest mystery. And for that, he must befriend the powerful duke's fetching and bewitching daughter. At the same time, he must keep an eye on his employers back at the Vatican--or as he calls them: "an impotent harem of bickering eunuchs."
Frutkin, an Ottawa-based author of three poetry collections and six novels, writes like a fresco sprung to life. You can feel the warmth of the sirocco, the wind that carries fine sand from the Sahara; smell the musty parchment of Cambiati's secret library; and taste the bitter elixirs peddled by the traveling troupe in the town's piazza. The action is broken into short chapters, making the plot trot along at a jaunty clip. Through Cambiati's alchemy and Archenti's reason, Frutkin examines the science of magic and the magic of science. He also keeps a few tricks for the elaborate finale, where the devil's advocate learns-- for better or worse--that there's much more to Cambiati than saintliness.