Carofiglio writes crisp, ironical novels that are as much love stories
and philosophical treatises as they are legal thrillers.--The New
Yorker
Raises the standard for crime fiction. Carofiglio's deft touch has given
us a story that is both literary and gritty--and one that speeds along
like the best legal thrillers. His insights into human nature--good and
bad--are breathtaking. --Jeffery Deaver
The first in the Guido Guerrieri series.
A nine-year-old boy is found murdered at the bottom of a well near a
popular beach resort in southern Italy. In what looks like a hopeless
case for Guido Guerrieri, counsel for the defense, a Senegalese peddler
is accused of the crime. Faced with small-town racism fuelled by the
recent immigration from Africa, Guido attempts to exploit the esoteric
workings of the Italian courts.
More than a perfectly paced legal thriller, this relentless suspense
novel transcends the genre. A powerful attack on racism and a
fascinating insight into the Italian judicial process, it is also an
affectionate portrait of a deeply humane hero.
Gianrico Carofiglio, a member of the senate in Italy, was an
anti-Mafia prosecutor in Bari, a port on the coast of Puglia. He has
been involved with trials concerning corruption, organized crime, and
the traffic of human beings. He has written four Guido Guerrieri novels,
all bestsellers, having sold over two million copies worldwide.
