I picked up Judges in the library, principally because it contains a story by Giancarlo de Cotaldo, the writer of one of my favourite European TV series – Romanzo Criminale. I have yet to encounter a novel of his in English, so this was the next best thing.

Judges is an anthology of three novellas by leading Italian crime writers; each story centres on an Italian Judge prosecuting a case. (The reader needs to bear in mind the investigative role of a Judge in Italy).

Andrea Camilleri, renowned author of the Montalbano series, kicks off with Judge Surra. This is a story set shortly after Italian unification, about a Judge from out of town who is parachuted into a Sicilian village, blissfully unaware of the criminal undercurrents that swirl around him. Surra seemingly blunders along, narrowly avoiding continuing disasters and amazing the locals with his sang froid and coolness in the face of the local mafiosi. Or is he a lot smarter than we might think? This is an excellent and humorous short story, but it is marred by a clumsy and unnecessary afterword.

The Bambina by Carlo Lucarelli was probably my favourite story of the three. It’s centred on a female Bolognan Judge who looks so young she is nicknamed “The Baby” by the cops. While she has police protection as a matter of routine, it seems totally unnecessary, as she is only investigating a minor white collar fraud. Events then take a turn that gives her case a lot more significance. Lucarelli is able to surprise the reader and pack plot twists into a very short space. (The ending will make more sense to people with a bit of knowledge about real-life crime in Italy, BTW). I’ll certainly be looking for more of Lucarelli’s work.

De Cotaldo’s story is called The Triple Dream of the Prosecutor. This is a tale about a Judge who is prosecuting a corrupt local mayor, a man who bullied him as a child, giving rise to the suspicion that the Judge is biased. In the story, he dreams about things going wrong on the day of the trial, in a looping fashion somewhat like Groundhog Day. The construction is complex and a little confusing, and I found this story rather unsatisfying. I guess I expected something more hard-boiled from the author of Romanzo Criminale. (Could somebody PLEASE publish Romanzo Criminale in English, BTW)?

Overall I thought these three novellas were worth reading and something a bit different from the usual police procedurals. Good stuff. ( )

Three short stories by three authors (Andrea Camilleri, Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Lucarelli), where each writes about a judge who takes up the fight with the mafia on a small scale.
What these judges from different eras have in common is that everyone beats the current mafia boss of the community with his own weapons. The judges are not intimidated by the mafia methods. Each one of them can finally achieve a small victory, even if other mafia guys leap right into the breach.
I can only recommend this book. ( )

Excellent. Three novellas about honest judges in Italy. ( )

Racconti(ni)

Racconti brevi. Dei tre, Camilleri, non essendo giudice racconta meglio di tutti le atmosfere da ufficio di frontiera, l'amministrazione di una parvenza di giustizia da parte di un magistrato "in prestito" a un territorio dove l'unica autorità riconosciuta è quella della "Fratellanza". E pur essendo temporaneo, con una leggerezza che viene scambiata per sprezzo del pericolo, avviene quello che per quei luoghi è un paradosso: la gente insorge, fa quadrato intorno all'uomo, il prepotente di turno viene ridotto alla gogna e finisce per autoesiliarsi. Nei tempi a venire, il giudice diventa leggenda nei ricordi della gente, incarnazione di un periodo nel quale la giustizia aveva un volto onesto, chiaro e incorruttibile. Il racconto di Lucarelli sembra uno dei tanti fatti di cronaca dei quali l'autore è famoso per essersene occupato. È un bravo giornalista, Lucarelli, ma ha uno stile ed una cadenza ripetitivi. L'ultimo capitolo di De Cataldo, l'unico dei tre magistrato nella vita e che a pieno titolo conosce il mestiere di cui di parla, è il più scialbo di tutti. Confuso, si affida alla chiave onirica senza riuscire a padroneggiarla. A mio modesto parere, la parte più riuscita sono i viaggi nel tempo che fu dei ricordi, quando i due protagonisti erano giovani e ancora lontani dalle diverse strade che avrebbero poi intrapreso.