Product Description

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 defence, 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55833 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 340 pages

Review
"A story that is both literary and gritty that speeds along like the best legal thrillers." Jeffery Deaver "Involuntary Witness is a stunner. The veracity of the setting and the humanity of the lawyer that makes the novel a courtroom drama of such rare quality." Times "A new voice, and one with which I am sure we will soon become familiar.Involuntary Witness, has been a best seller in Italy and won many prizes. A powerful redemptive novel beautifully translated." Daily Mail

About the Author
Gianrico Carofiglio is an anti-Mafia judge in Bari, a port on the coast of Puglia. He has been involved with trials concerning corruption, organized crime and the traffic in human beings.

Customer Reviews

Murder on the beaches of Apulia
Apulia is hailed as the new Tuscany. This region, where I come from, is the heel of the Italian boot. We have a long tradition of writers, musicians etc but Carofiglio is the real McCoy. His books are beautufully written with a mix of irony, suspense and mystery. It reminded me of Dibdin (perhaps because of the setting) but Carofiglio is more gritty. Carofiglio himself is an excellent CPS and his legal background is obvious in his novels. If you want your hero to be a lawyer with a penchant for food, Dire Straits, occasional sex and on the mend from a broken heart... here is your book!

Excellent example of the genre
Guido Guerrieri's marriage is on the rocks and he's a corrupt lawyer, representing people whom he despises for the money. From the Sartre-like pit of existential despair when it all goes wrong, Guerrieri's life begins to turn around when he is finessed into taking on the defence of a Sengalese man, a beach-peddler accused of murdering a small boy. The "Mockingbird" court case plays out in parallel with Guerrieri's spiritual rehabilitation and redemption.

I loved this fast-paced and compelling story. Not only for all the above reasons, but because of its sense of place. I've written before about placeism, and in that context of how John Grisham, although usually weak on plot, excels at conveying it. Carofiglio's Bari is in the same mould --- the details of life in this small Italian town illuminate the eternal dramatic themes. And it is good on plot, too.

This is a perfect miniature of a book --much shorter than Grisham, and all the better for it.

Simple, but immensely entertaining
This is now the third of three Carofiglio books I have read, despite it being the first published. Guido Guerrieri, the lead character, defends a Senegalese immigrant charged with the murder of a 9 year old boy.

As always, Carofiglio's books are immensely readable - I started reading on a Sunday morning and before I knew it, it was lunch-time and I had finished the book. Unfortunately, I still can't figure out what makes his books so appealing so I suspect it's a combination of things : the setting in Bari; Guido himself, as a troubled and flawed character, who you still have a great deal of empathy for; or the wit and thoughts which Carofiglio expresses through Guido.

The book is not at all technical and will not test readers looking for a complex legal thriller. This is despite some brilliant deliveries from Guido as he appeals to the jury members and the court. The book is also not a `whodunit' in the traditional English or American sense. Strikingly, the accused plays a very small part in the whole book, as does his wife who disappears very early on for no apparent good reason.

But there is just something about the way Carofiglio writes which has you craving for more!