Big Italy: Commissario Trotti #5

(Paperback)

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Description

After what seems like several lifetimes, Commissario Trotti is ready for retirement. Soon, he'll finally be able to fulfil his dream of moving to the countryside villa he co-owns with his cousin. But there are several people trying to talk him out of retirement. Meanwhile, Fabrizio Bassi, a reckless, womanising private detective who worked under Trotti years ago before being kicked off the force, approaches him for help. 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.

Reviews

Praise for Big Italy

Subtle, tense and gripping, Big Italy explores the corruption that feeds on Italian life, from the top to the bottom of the pile. The dialogue is oblique and spare, the breakdowns in communication reflecting the corrosion of relationships between vivid and credibly drawn characters.
Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News

Splendidly realised in four previous novels, Timothy Williamss morose Italian [Commissario Trotti] is contemplating retirement . . . Williamss pared-down descriptions and staccato dialogue are a constant pleasure.
Financial Times

Commissario Trotti is an inspired creation.
Sunday Times

Stylish and excellent. Those who like Dibdin will eat it up.
Lionel Davidson

Wake up and smell the grappa. Big Italy is a chilling education, a scalpel-sharp exploration of Italys body politic. Timothy Williams knows the ABC of corruptionAndreotti, Berlusconi, Craxiand is a convincing and compelling voice.
Ian Rankin

A glorious, intoxicating mix of Italian melodrama and mystery lovingly brought to life by a writer who really takes you there. Grazie, Signor Williams.
David Jensen, Capital Radio

Williams serves up rich and complex plots about politics, corruption and love . . . Strong characters, a twisting plot and rich in Italian atmosphere.
Lancashire Evening Post

The highly praised Timothy Williams has created a splendid character in Commissario Trotti. The writer's spare dialogue and descriptive skills are put to eloquent work to evoke corruption and conspiracy in Big Italy.
Evening Express

Beautifully told by Williams who controls the whole [storyline] with great skill.
Birmingham Evening Post

[Williams] is perhaps the best of the distinguished crop of non-Italian crime fiction writers whose work is set in Italy, a literary generation that includes Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Michael Dibdin . . . I can wholeheartedly encourage readers who are interested in atypical, ambitious, and atmospheric crime writing to [try the] Trotti novels.
International Noir Fiction

[Williamss] brilliant ear for dialogue puts one in mind of George V. Higgins and every character is sketched in with an artist's eye for colour and contrast. A sheer delight.
Crime and Detective Stories

A complex and fascinating tale of love, politics and corruption. Highly recommended.
Publishing News

Set within a contemporary Italian milieu, Timothy Williams's latest book comes across as a labour of love, possessing a patient fidelity in portraying Italian life and mores.Finely constructed . . . political scandal, murder and, of course, food, served in generous yet healthy portions. A Mediterranean diet to be savoured.
Crime Trail

Big Italy is the sort of novel Hammett might have written if hed lived in Italy in the eighties or early nineties. Big themes, lots of cynicism and the overall impression of powerlessness when faced with corruption . . . Timothy Williams is a major contender.
Tangled Web


Praise for the Commissario Piero Trotti series

"A delight.
The Observer, "10 Best Modern European Crime Writers"

Commissario Trotti is clever and tough . . . His investigation is fascinating to an American reader because it offers insights into the Italian power structure, which is far more interesting than it is stable.
Newsday

Superb.
TheScotsman

Breathtakingly good.
Evening Standard

The ageing moody Trotti is a subtle and convincing creation; the other characters are portrayed with depth and sensitivity, and the Italian atmosphere is authentically beguiling. First-rate in every way.
The Times

Simple but stylish . . . [Williams's] plotting [is] impeccable.
Time Out

Fans of dark-edged, politically textured Euro-mystery will want to keep track of Trottis adventures.
Kirkus Reviews

Stylish and excellent. Those who like Dibdin will eat it up.
Lionel Davidson

Williams writes like an angel. He does, but thank Beelzebub, it's a mongrel angel with a bit of fiend about him.
Oxford Times

Trotti himself is perversely lovable; totally dedicated but not without dark, self-deprecating humor.
Booklist

Author Bio

CWA award-winning author Timothy Williams has written five crime novels set in Italy featuring Commissario Piero Trotti, as well as two mysteries set on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe (Another Sun and The Honest Folk of Guadeloupe). In 2011, the Observer placed him among the ten best modern European crime novelists. Born in London and educated at St. Andrews, Williams has taught at the universities of Poitiers in France, Bari and Pavia in Italy, and at Jassy in Romania. He has lived in the French West Indies, where he teaches, since 1980.