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.

Massimo Carlotto
Massimo Carlotto was born in Padua, Italy. In addition to the many titles in his extremely popular “Alligator” series, he is also the author of The Fugitive, Death’s Dark Abyss, Poisonville, Bandit Love, and At the End of a Dull Day. He is one of Italy’s most popular authors and a major exponent of the Mediterranean Noir novel.

• Oct 30 2016
  "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
• Jul 7 2016
  "Melancholy-tinged, Carlotto's novel is quite nicely turned and solid entertainment."
  — The Complete Review