title: Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime Fiction
author: Giancarlo De Cataldo
description: As De Cataldo, an appellate judge, points out in his pithy preface, corruption is a theme shared by all nine stories in this first U.S. anthology of Italian noir. The dark farce, "You Are My Treasure Chest" by Niccolo Ammaniti and Antonio Manzini, recounts the misadventures of drug-addicted plastic surgeon Paolo Bocchi, who finds a creative solution to hiding a stache of cocaine when he must perform breast-enhancement surgery on one of Italy's leading soap opera actresses. Carlo Lucarelli's lean "The Third Shot," the volume's most impressive entry, centers on an officer-involved shooting in Bologna. Expectations are confounded when the threat from organized crime in Massimo Carlotto's "Death of an Informer" stems not from the Mafia but from Chinese gangs who have taken over the protection rackets in small towns the Italian mobsters have abandoned. As Carlotto's story suggests, the increasing role of immigrants in Italian society has become a major theme in Italian noir. The high quality and variety of these tales will leave many readers hoping for another such selection soon. <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: THE YEAR OF THE MANTIS
  
  _P_ _._ _J_ _._ _M_ _ANN_
  
  _**Copyrights © 2021 by P. J. Mann. All Rights Reserved.**_
  
  ISBN 978-952-7415-17-7 (paperback)
  
  ISBN 978-952-7415-18-4 (hardback)
  
  ISBN 978-952-7415-20-7 (EPUB)
  
  ISBN 978-952-7415-19-1 (MOBI)
  
  **ACKNOWLEDGMENTS**
  
  I would like to thank first of all my editor, Lorraine Kolmacic Carey, for her
  support suggestions and fantastic editing work. Mr. Pasquale Rapetti ex Police
  officer, for the great help concerning police procedures in case of murder
  cases in Italy and the hierarchy inside the Police Corps. Attorney Roberto
  Fiorucci for the precious legal assistance. My reader’s team who gave great
  suggestions and supported me also for this novel.
  
  **INTRO**
  
  _01.28.2010, Rome (Italy) 3:00 a.m._
  
  The door of the apartment slammed close with a threatening creaking sound on
  its hinges. With a muffled growl, Claudio froze for a moment, hoping his son
  didn’t wake up.
  
  The soft snoring coming from his son’s bedroom relieved him. Keeping the light
  