Tonino Benacquista

Holy Smoke

(La Commedia des Ratés)

(Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter)

JACKET NOTES:  The Mafia was only the first of Tonio's problems.

Some favors simply cannot be refused. Tonio agrees to write a love letter for Dario, a low-rent Paris gigolo. When Dario is murdered, a single bullet to the head, Tonio finds he has been left a small vineyard near Naples. The wine is undrinkable, but an elaborate scam has been set up. The smell of easy money attracts the unwanted attentions of the Mafia and the Vatican and the unbridled hatred of the locals. Mafiosi aren't choir boys, and monsignors can be very much like Mafiosi.

A darkly comic, iconoclastic tale told by an author of great verve and humour. Winner of three mystery prizes in one year, including the Grand Prix de la Litterature Policiere and the Prix Mystere de la Critique.
(© Bitter Lemon Press)