'Judges', a nice anthology of novellas by three of Italy's most accomplished crime writers, is a treat for fans of the genre.
Each of the book's trio of stories presents a different judicial protagonist and deals with issues of social, legal and political corruption in a country notorious for the powerful and treacherous reach of its criminal elements. As a helpful translator's note points out by way of introduction, in Italy the term 'judge', rather than limiting itself strictly to the magistrates who preside over court cases, is actually something of an umbrella term that stretches to include public prosecutors.
Andrea Camilleri, renowned author of the acclaimed Montalbano series, opens the collection with a delightfully humorous story set in 19th century Sicily in the immediate aftermath of Reunification. Judge Surra, a sweet-toothed man of underwhelming appearance and a certain wide-eyed innocence, travels from Turin to restore lawful stability to the town of Montelusa. There, he quickly discovers the pleasures of the local cuisine, particularly cannoli, the ricotta-filled pastries. But when he crosses the local mafia chief, Don Nené, something has to give. An assassination attempt costs him a good hat, and an arson attack on his office burns down everything but four precious files. But while Judge Surra impresses the town with a blissfully detached calm in the face of menace, he is also possessed of a solid nerve, and a scrupulous sense of right and wrong.
The second novella, Carlo Lucarelli's 'The Bambina' favours a more hard-edged realism. In 1980, a young female judge, Valentina Lorenzini, in taking up her first posting as an examining magistrates at the Bologna Law Court, has been assigned a bodyguard, a veteran cop named 'Ferro' Ferrucci. Her case is nothing, a fraudulent bankruptcy case, so the ambush that puts her into a week-long coma makes no sense. Ferro blames himself, but when he recognises the would-be assassin, dressed in police garb and arriving with backup at the hospital, he plucks the Bambina from her bed and secretes her with a clandestine doctor. By the time she wakes, her rescuer is no longer in the picture, and it soon becomes clear that nothing is quite as it seems. This novella, probably the pick of the three, is beautifully paced, ripe with tension and packing some truly hard-hitting twists.
'The Triple Dream of the Prosecutor' by Giancarlo De Cataldo closes this anthology in an unusual way, with a Groundhog Day-type story that melds fantasy with fact. Straight-laced Ottavio Mandati and his bullying and deceitful nemesis, Pierfiliberto Berazzi-Perdico, nurture a hatred for one another dating back to their schooldays. Now, Pierfiliberto is the all-powerful mayor of their hometown, Novere, involved in all kinds of dirty dealings but beloved by the people, while Mandati, as Chief Prosecutor, attempts to bring the scoundrel to justice. But when, ahead of the latest court investigation, the mayor suffers a couple of failed attempts on his life, the case seems suddenly very complicated. For Mandati, danger insinuates even his dreams, and he needs to watch his step.