A Fine Line

A Fine Line by Gianrico Carofiglio  288 pages

I was excited to find this book, mainly because the setting is Italy. I don’t come across many fictional works that have been translated from its primary language of Italian. Howard Curtis, the translator, and as far as I can tell, did a wonderful job.

This book is a prime example of me getting caught up in one of the books aspect. Too late did I realize that A Fine Line is the fifth, and most, recent book in the Guido Guerrieri series. Guerrieri is everything that most defense attorneys in American literature are not: timid and courteous. The Financial Times said it best: “Where Phillip Marlowe would be knocking back bourbon and listening to the snap of a fist on jaw, Guerrieri prefers Sicilian wine and Leonard Cohen.”

He talks to himself and the punching bag hanging in the middle of his living room (he’s been boxing for decades and seems to be something of a hoarder). It’s that quality that makes dialogue hard to follow.; I never could figure out who he was talking to.

The basis of the plot is simple: Judge Pierluigi Larocca is the subject of corruption charges. He’s been accused of being bribed. Helping Guerrieri is a private

I think this is one of those series that has to be read in order. I had a hard time trying to figure out who was who. Of the 100 pages that I did read, the plot was hard to decipher and only made up about 20 of those 100 pages. The rest is bogged down in the law and the Italian legal system that is dry as dirt. I’m not even sure how private detective Annapaloa Doria, a motorcycle-riding bisexual, really fit into the story, other than the one time she help Guerrieri out by beating up a bunch of hoodlums with a baseball bat that she stores on her bike.

Needless to say, Gianrico Carofiglio’s A Fine Line wound up in the DNF (did not finish) pile.

This work receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.