The Last Prosecco (2017) Plot Summary Explained

Count Ancillotto's suicide in The Last Prosecco is presented as a dramatic, stylized gesture rather than a clear act of despair. He took his own life with the same flair that defined his personality, and the summary deliberately leaves his motives shrouded in mystery. His vocal opposition to a polluting factory and his fierce defense of Prosecco heritage suggest he was a man of intense pride and principle, but the true reason remains one of the central puzzles Inspector Stucky must untangle.

Foreshadowing: His lifelong habit of turning every action into a theatrical statement foreshadows the dramatic manner of his death.

• count ancillotto suicide
• motive
• prosecco hills
• mystery

The paradox in The Last Prosecco arises because the two men gunned down after the Count's death were his most prominent enemies. Since the victims had clear ties to the Count, investigators initially treat his suicide as potentially orchestrated to cover a murder plot, or view his death itself as suspicious. With no other obvious culprit and the dead nobleman at the center of every connection between victims, the Count temporarily becomes the only suspect linking the crimes together.

Foreshadowing: The Count's well-known feuds with locals establish him as the figure who connects all the victims.

• dead suspect
• paradox
• murders
• investigation

The murders of the Count's enemies in The Last Prosecco transform a personal tragedy into a criminal investigation. Because the victims were the same people the Count publicly feuded with, their deaths suggest someone is systematically eliminating the figures connected to him. The timing also raises the possibility that the Count's suicide triggered a chain of retribution, whether planned in advance or carried out by someone exploiting the chaos surrounding his dramatic exit.

Foreshadowing: The Count's vocal criticism of the factory and other locals earlier in the story establishes a clear list of people with motives against him.

• count enemies
• murders
• retribution
• factory feud

Inspector Stucky in The Last Prosecco is chosen for the investigation as an outsider unfamiliar with the tight-knit communities of the Prosecco Hills. His half-Persian background makes him an awkward fit socially, which initially seems like a weakness but actually allows him to question local assumptions that more embedded officers would accept. His inexperience in the territory forces him to approach suspects without preconceived notions, which becomes essential when dealing with the eccentric characters populating the case.

Foreshadowing: His outsider status, introduced early, becomes the very trait that lets him crack a case rooted in local traditions.

• inspector stucky
• outsider
• investigation
• half-persian

The Prosecco brotherhood in The Last Prosecco is a secretive organization tied to the Count's world that Stucky discovers during his investigation. It represents a hidden social circle where loyalties, rivalries, and traditional values run deep, and membership reflects a commitment to preserving the heritage of fine Prosecco. The brotherhood becomes important because it shelters key relationships and unspoken rules that explain why the Count behaved as he did and who might have had reason to act after his death.

Foreshadowing: Hints about the Count's influence over local elites point toward a closed circle operating behind the scenes.

• prosecco brotherhood
• secretive organization
• local elite

The Count's public criticism of a polluting factory in The Last Prosecco is the most visible source of conflict in his life and the engine behind much of the investigation. His opposition to industrial encroachment on the Prosecco Hills earned him admirers but also created a list of dangerous enemies, including factory owners and their allies. The feud provides the practical motive for many of the tensions Stucky uncovers and ties the murders directly to questions about land, legacy, and modernization.

Foreshadowing: The Count's repeated denunciations of the factory earlier in the story prefigure the deadly conflicts that follow his death.

• factory feud
• pollution
• prosecco hills
• conflict

Isacco Pitusso in The Last Prosecco is an eccentric gravedigger encountered by Inspector Stucky during his investigation, and his unsettling behavior adds a disturbing undertone to the mystery. While the summary does not confirm his direct involvement in the crimes, his connection to the case suggests he knows more about the community's underbelly than he reveals. His role underscores how the investigation surfaces strange, marginalized figures who carry secrets the polished surface of Prosecco society tries to hide.

Foreshadowing: Rumors of a disturbed local figure circulate before Stucky actually meets him, hinting at hidden knowledge.

• isacco pitusso
• gravedigger
• eccentric
• investigation

Count Ancillotto's estrangement from Celinda Salvatierra in The Last Prosecco adds a painful family dimension to the investigation and hints at long-standing personal wounds. The Count's outsized personality, his obsession with legacy, and his public scandals all created conditions for a broken relationship with his daughter. Stucky seeks her out because her perspective on her father's final days may reveal secrets about his state of mind that his public admirers and his mistress cannot provide.

Foreshadowing: References to the Count's pride and flamboyance earlier in the story suggest the personality traits that alienated his family.

• celinda salvatierra
• estranged daughter
• family
• count ancillotto

Inspector Stucky's breakthrough in The Last Prosecco comes when he realizes that the mystery cannot be solved through standard police work alone. The feuds, alliances, and suspicious deaths are all rooted in the values, rivalries, and traditions of the Prosecco Hills. By immersing himself in local customs, learning who belongs to the secretive brotherhood, and grasping what the land and its wine mean to its people, Stucky gains the context needed to connect motives that would otherwise appear random.

Foreshadowing: Early hints about the Count's reverence for Prosecco heritage foreshadow the moment when that philosophy becomes the key to the investigation.

• prosecco culture
• traditions
• investigation
• breakthrough

The Count's credo in The Last Prosecco is the philosophy of savouring the finer things in life and fighting relentlessly to preserve them against modernity and industrial decay. This belief shaped every public action he took, from his defense of Prosecco heritage to his attacks on the polluting factory. For Inspector Stucky, uncovering this credo is the real revelation of the story, because it reframes the entire investigation as a conflict over values rather than just a series of crimes, leaving a lasting impression on his own outlook.

Foreshadowing: The Count's dramatic lifestyle and his outspoken opposition to the factory hint at this deeper philosophy long before Stucky articulates it.

• count credo
• philosophy
• prosecco heritage
• preservation

The summary of The Last Prosecco deliberately withholds the identity of the killer, treating the discovery as part of Stucky's investigative journey rather than as a stated fact. What the story makes clear is that the deaths are connected to the Count's feuds, his relationships, and the tensions surrounding his suicide, and that the killer operates within the same tight circle of locals Stucky is investigating. The mystery is resolved through Stucky's immersion in Prosecco culture, which exposes who had the motive, access, and reason to act after the Count's death.

Foreshadowing: The Count's well-documented conflicts establish the pool of suspects long before the truth is revealed.

• killer
• murders
• mystery
• suspects

Francesca Beltrame, the Count's mistress in The Last Prosecco, offers Stucky an intimate glimpse into the nobleman's final days and his state of mind before death. Because she shared a private part of his life, her account carries details that his public admirers and estranged daughter cannot provide, including emotional nuances and unspoken tensions. Her presence in the story also humanizes the Count, reinforcing that his dramatic public persona masked a more complex personal world relevant to the mystery.

Foreshadowing: Hints about the Count's secretive personal life foreshadow the discovery of a lover with privileged knowledge.

• francesca beltrame
• mistress
• count ancillotto
• investigation