One spring afternoon Lorenza shows up in Guerrieri’s office. Her son Jacopo, a small-time delinquent, stands convicted of the first-degree murder of a local drug dealer. Her trial lawyer has died, so for the appeal, she turns to Guerrieri. He is not convinced of the innocence of Lorenza’s son, nor does he have fond memories of how their relationship ended two decades earlier. Nevertheless, he accepts the case; perhaps to pay a melancholy homage to the ghosts of his youth.

Praise for Gianrico Carofiglio:

“The author occupies a niche similar to Erle Stanley Gardner and John Grisham. Carofiglio has endowed his hero with a discriminating taste for good food, but none of their relish for brutality.” Times Literary Supplement 

“As exacting and contemplative as any crime writer I can think of. Yet when the Italian defense lawyer isn’t doing something, he is thinking, and what goes on in his doubt-stuffed head is always captivating.” Washington Post 

“Hard-boiled and sun-dried in equal parts. Where Philip Marlowe would be knocking back bourbon and listening to the snap of fist on jaw, Guerrieri prefers Sicilian wine and Leonard Cohen.” Financial Times