“The best living Italian crime writer” immerses readers in a gritty noir novel featuring PI Marco “the Alligator” Buratti (Il Manifesto). This novel, by one of Italy’s bestselling crime novelists, provides a unique perspective on the criminal and social dynamics that dominate contemporary Italy. One of the many robberies that plague Northeast Italy goes wrong and ends with a brutal murder. The police investigation turns up nothing. Two years later, Marco Buratti, alias “the Alligator,” is asked to look into the crime and find out who was responsible. Buratti’s employer is young, the youngest client he has ever had; he is only twelve years old and is the son of one of the victims. The Alligator realizes right from the start that the truth is cloaked, twisted, shocking. Together with his associates, Beniamino Rossini and Max the Memory, he finds himself mixed up in a story involving contraband gold and blood vendettas between criminal gangs. “Finishing an Alligator mystery is like waking up after an all-night bender with your best friends. . . . You’re not 100 percent sure what happened. But you know you had a good time.” —Cedar Rapids Gazette “Melancholy-tinged, Carlotto’s novel is quite nicely turned and solid entertainment.” —The Complete Review
