THE CLASS OF CAROFIGLIO

Gianrico Carofiglio just gets better and better.

In his latest novel Reasonable Doubts defence lawyer Guido Guerrieri is asked to deal with the appeal of Fabio Paolicelli, who is facing a 16 year sentence for drug smuggling.

Paolicelli initially confessed to the crime in order to make sure his wife was not arrested. He does not remember Guido, but Guido remembers him as the fascist thug who terrorised his teenage years.

Guerrieri is inclined not to take the case until he meets Paolicelli's beautiful half Japanese wife Natsu Kawabata.

"There's a reception and I am taking care of the buffet. Japanese food with a few variants of my own creation."

The body work of Paolicelli's car had been found to contain 40 kilos of cocaine on the family's return from a holiday in Montenegro. A mysterious lawyer Avvocato Corrado Macri had been recommended by a stranger to defend Paolicelli and had not made much of an effort while claiming everything was in hand.

Guerrieri is not sure of the inncocence or guilt of his client, but is sure about the atractiveness of his client's wife.

With the help of Carmelo Tancredi, a policeman friend, Guerrieri investigates the case and the possibility that the car had been tampered with in the hotel car park in Montenegro.

Guerrieri is a very interesting character, and certainly he is very distraught at being left by Margherita at the beginning of the book. In this vulnerable state he begins a relationship with Natsu. He wonders if he really wants to free Paolicelli, or have him serve his time in prison while he enjoys a family life with his wife and young daughter.

She came and sat down next to me on the sofa......One thing led to another......It was the last rational thought I had last night...........................

I would have said this lawyer was a piece of shit.

I love the first person conversational style of these books and the legal details about the Italian legal system. The characters are well drawn, and above all you feel every minute of Guido's struggle with both the case and with his conscience. The questions posed by the plot keep you reading right through to the end, and as an interesting sub plot Guido Guerrieri, the fictional lawyer, wants to become a writer.

Well the real life Gianrico Carofiglio, until recently an anti-Mafia prosecutor in Bari and now advisor to the Italian Parliament on organized crime, has definitely become an excellent writer.

Are you still a Fascist? how could you have been a Fascist and liked jazz?