A Fine Line

When Judge Larocca is the subject of corruption allegations, Guerrieri goes against his better instincts and takes the case. After all, they had been at school and university together. Helped by Annapaola Doria, a motorbike-riding bisexual private detective who keeps a baseball bat to hand for sticky situations, he discovers the judge's links to the mafia.

Larocca is blind to the immorality of his actions, but Annapaola makes sure that justice is done, perhaps not in the most orthodox way. Of course, Guerrieri cannot stop himself from falling for Annapaola's exotic charms.

The novel takes the form of a suspenseful legal thriller, but it is much more. It is the story of a judge who, to quote Brothers Karamazov, "...lies to himself and listens to his own lies, so gets to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either in himself or around himself." A man always looking to justify his evil and corrupt behaviour, perhaps an apposite metaphor for Italy itself.

Less sentimental than "Inspector Montalbano", but just as flavoursome, the legal thrillers of Gianrico Carofiglio, a former gang-busting lawyer, have sold more than five million copies - 1843 Magazine. Read the full article here.