Involuntary Witness (Guido Guerrieri 1) [Paperback]

Gianrico Carofiglio (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guido Guerrieri 1 | Publication Date: March 11, 2010

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A bestseller and winner of multiple awards in Italy, Carofiglio's debut should please fans of American-style courtroom thrillers. A murder case presents Guido Guerrieri, the archetypal burned-out defense lawyer, with a chance at redemption. A Senegalese peddler, Abdou Thiam, is arrested for killing a nine-year-old boy, whose body was found at the bottom of a well near a coastal resort in southern Italy. Even though the police have only circumstantial evidence against Thiam, he's advised to take a plea bargain that would allow him to get off with only 20 years in prison. Guerrieri becomes convinced that his new client is the victim of racism and is being used as a scapegoat. Defying conventional wisdom and putting his own career on the line as well as Thiam's fate, Guerrieri takes the case to trial. The result is a powerful indictment of the Italian justice system. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"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 A powerful redemptive novel beautifully translated.A" Daily Mail A stunner. Guerrieri is a wonderfully convincing character; morose, but seeing the absurdity of his gloomy life, his vulnerability and cynicism laced with self-deprecating humour. It is the veracity of the setting and the humanity of the lawyer that makes the novel a courtroom drama of such rare quality.A" The Times

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press (March 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904738524
• ISBN-13: 978-1904738527
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,854,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book, December 12, 2005

By 

Cap'n Co (Fall River, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Involuntary Witness (Paperback)

The author is a working criminal lawyer (an investigating magistrate, sort of like a cross between a DA and a judge, if I understand correctly).

In any event, it's clear that he knows of what he speaks in this marvellous Italian trial procedural. Carofiglio has an acid wit, and the book is very amusing.

I found the character development and the romance less interesting, as it was not captured as well as the criminal case. But that's not why one reads this sort of book, anyway.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Procedural, Less Romance, September 2, 2010

By 

K. L. Cotugno (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Involuntary Witness (Paperback)

Having caught up on the Montalbano series, I searched for another Italian based procedural series and discovered Carofiglio, an anti-Mafia prosecutor from Bari. This locale is important to the story of his debut novel as it is a seaside resort located on the back heel of Italy's boot. It is a worthy debut, but Caroliglio would benefit from adopting Camilleri's style a bit, employing less of his central character's private life and focusing more closely on the situation at hand. I found myself skimming through the tribulations of Guido's love life to get to the meat of the trial and the mystery surrounding the death of a young boy, the crime for which his Senegalese client is charged. That his client is innocent is evident from the start, his reasons for incarceration disturbing and sad. I was surprised to discover the breadth of racial blindness and prejudice present in Italy plus the workings of their court system. Because those parts of the book were so compelling, I'll continue with the series, hoping that Guido's personal life takes more of a back seat to the legal proceedings.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual murder mystery, January 2, 2006

By 

M. Owens (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Involuntary Witness (Paperback)

Rather more information on the procedures of Italian justice than I wanted, but a great narrator, and the emotional content of his relationships - to his (ex)wife, his new lover, and to the accused - were well developed. The book has a satisfying although not unexpected ending.

It's clear you don't want to be Sengalese and a transient vendor in Italy when a child disappears, but it's a story that could probably happen anywhere. An interesting book. Had it been an American/British murder mystery, we probably would have found out "who dun it" - if you need that, it's not here.