Walk in the Dark - Tapa blanda

"Involuntary Witness is a stunner. The trial itself is absorbing but it is 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 is that of Gianrico Carofiglio, an anti-mafia judge whose first crime novel, Involuntary Witness, has been a best seller in Italy and won many prizes. A powerful redemptive novel beautifully translated." Daily Mail "Compelling novel written by a judge, the scourge of local criminals who likes to write books that make his readers cry. An author that has the audacity to reveal both a flawed legal system and debunk the myth of the macho Italian man". Observer "The author occupies a niche similar to that which is filled in America by Erle Stanley Gardner and John Grisham. The genre is flourishing and if Carofiglio, following his fellow practitioners, has endowed his hero with discriminating taste for good food, he has none of their relish for brutality. Violence is kept at arm's length." Times Literary Supplement"

No one in Bari wants to represent Martina in her efforts to bring her ex-boyfriend to trial for assault and battery. He is a successful doctor and the son of a powerful and vindictive local judge. Witnesses are suddenly unwilling to testify and Martina has a history of psychological problems. Guerrieri knows this case is likely to bring his legal career to a premature and messy end. But he cannot resist the appeal of a hopeless cause. Nor deny his attraction to Sister Claudia, the fiercely protective young woman in charge of the shelter where Martina is living. Sister Claudia, who usually wears a black leather jacket and jeans, shares Guerrieri's love for martial arts and his outrage at the hypocrisy and corruption revealed by the trial.