Black August

Description:  Commissario Trotti of Italy's Polizia di Stato is called to the scene of a brutal murder. The body of schoolteacher Rosanna Belloni, an old friend of Trotti's, has been found, the face badly disfigured. His superiors warn him off the case, but Trotti is determined to find the killer.

First he must trace Rosanna's missing, drug-addicted sister. But the deeper he digs, the more questions he has to ask. Is the mysterious suicide in the River Po connected to the murder? Where does the discovery of a car, dredged up from the Delta, fit in? Faced with a seemingly insoluble mystery, Trotti must also grapple with obstructive colleagues and problems in his private life.
With its brilliantly realised Italian setting, subtle plotting and fine characterisation, Black August is an excellent addition to Timothy Williams's critically acclaimed series.
(©Victor Gollancz Ltd.)