Commissario Trotti

TARGET CONSUMER: Crime fiction readers; Italophiles; readers of authors like Magdalen Nabb, Donna Leon, Andrea Camilleri and other writers who capture mid-20th century Italy in their works The fourth book in Timothy Williams's critically acclaimed Commissario Trotti series, originally published in the 1980s. When a brutally battered corpse with a disfigured face turns out to be an old friend of Commissario Trotti's, he joins the manhunt, despite objections from his superiors. Follows the $9.99 reissue of Converging Parallels. In 2011, Timothy Williams was selected by the UK's Observer as one of the top 10 modern European crime novelists because of his work on this long out-of-print series, which Soho is excited to bring back into print in this attractive new package. Commissario Trotti of Italy's Polizia di Stato is called to the scene of a brutal murder. Despite the badly disfigured face on the corpse, Trotti recognizes it as schoolteacher Rosanna Belloni, an old friend of. His superiors warn him off the case, but Trotti is determined to hunt down the killer. First he must find Rosanna's missing sister, a known drug addict. But the deeper he digs, the more questions he is forced to ask himself. Is a recent, unexplained suicide in the River Po connected with the murder? Where does the discovery of a car dredged up from the Delta fit in? Faced with a seemingly unsolvable mystery, Trotti must also grapple with obstructive colleagues and the problems arising in his private life. With its brilliantly realized Italian setting, subtle plotting and fine characterization, Black August is a must-have addition to Timothy Williams's critically acclaimed Trotti series.

Northern Italy, 1993: After what seems like several lifetimes as a policeman in the Questura, Commissario Trotti is ready for retirement. Soon, he'll be able to fulfill his dream of moving to the countryside villa he co-owns with his cousin, where his daily business will be tending to goats and chickens. But despite Trotti's stubbornly old-fashioned investigative methods and his disregard for social niceties, there are several people trying to talk him out of retirement. Trotti's boss offers him a golden opportunity as head of the Questura's new child abuse division. Meanwhile, Fabrizio Bassi, a reckless, womanizing private detective who worked under Trotti years ago before being kicked off the force, approaches him for help. Bassi has been investigating the death of a murdered doctor, and he has a conspiracy theory that extends to the highest reaches of government. Trotti declines, annoyed by the request. But when Bassi is found in a ditch with a bullet in his head, Trotti decides to take on one last murder case after all.