It is my pleasure to be on final day of the blog tour for Gianrico Carofiglio's crime novel, The Cold Summer today. It was published by Bitter Lemon Press on 13th September 2018.
The summer of 1992 had been exceptionally cold in southern
Italy. But that's not the reason why it is still remembered.
On May 23, 1992, a roadside explosion killed the Palermo
judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three police officers. A few weeks later
judge Paolo Borsellino and five police officers were killed in the center of
Palermo. These anti-mafia judges became heroes but the violence spread to the
region of Bari in Puglia, where we meet a new, memorable character, Maresciallo
Pietro Fenoglio, an officer of the Italian Carabinieri. Fenoglio, recently
abandoned by his wife, must simultaneously deal with his personal crisis and
the new gang wars raging around Bari. The police are stymied until a gang
member, accused of killing a child, decides to collaborate, revealing the inner
workings and the rules governing organised crime in the area.
The story is narrated through the actual testimony of the
informant, a trope reminiscent of verbatim theatre which Carofiglio, an
ex-anti-mafia judge himself, uses to great effect. The gangs are stopped but
the mystery of the boy's murder must still be solved, leading Fenoglio into a
world of deep moral ambiguity, where the prosecutors are hard to distinguish from
the prosecuted.
My Thoughts
I found the opening chapters of this crime novel to be particularly pleasing. It established Fenoglio and I was soon intrigued as to what his personal crisis was all about. His thoughts about his estranged wife intrude throughout the story and put flesh on the character who you see. All the background we are given on his love of opera and art, together with his discussions on ethics and the human condition, add up to a fascinating and cultured man.
You can feel the authenticity which Carofiglio's past experience as an anti- mafia prosecutor and judge brings to the treatment of the mafia plot. There is tremendous detail in the testimony of the informant which slowly builds up a complete picture of the investigation. It is sometimes hard to know who can be trusted, so muddy are the waters that we are gazing into. It becomes clear that corruption lies at all levels of society.
In short: A multi-layered story which takes a look at the depths of corruption beneath the surface.
About the Author
Award-winning, best-selling novelist Gianrico Carofiglio was
born in Bari in 1961 and worked for many years as a prosecutor specialising in
organised crime.
He was appointed advisor of the anti-Mafia committee in the
Italian parliament in 2007 and served as a senator from 2008 to 2013.
Carofiglio is best know for the Guido Guerrieri crime
series; Involuntary Witness, A Walk in the Dark, Reasonable Doubts, Temporary
Perfections and now, a Fine Line, all published by Bitter Lemon Press.
His other novels include The Silence of the Wave.
Carofiglio’s books have sold more than four million copies
in Italy and have been translated into twenty-four languages worldwide.
Thanks to Gianrico Carofiglio, Bitter Lemon Press and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Do take a look back at the rest of the tour!
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