CWA award-winning author Timothy Williams has written five crime novels set in Italy featuring Commissario Piero Trotti, as well as two mysteries set on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe (Another Sun and The Honest Folk of Guadeloupe). In 2011, the Observer placed him among the ten best modern European crime novelists. Born in London and educated at St. Andrews, Williams has taught at the universities of Poitiers in France, Bari and Pavia in Italy, and at Jassy in Romania. He has lived in the French West Indies, where he teaches, since 1980.
Praise for Persona Non Grata
“[Williams] capture[s] the Northern Italian milieu with particular
insight into
the changing attitudes of its people as a younger generation
discards the old
traditions of family life.”
—The Washington Post
“This third Commissario Trotti book lives up to the high promise of
the first two . . . A stylish thriller-cum-police procedural both
clever in conception and brilliant in execution.”
—Irish Times
“Williams' prose is stylishly basic . . . [Commissario Trotti] is a
splendid creation.”
—Oxford Times
“Excellent atmosphere, good dialogue and Trotti a very human
policeman.”
—The Times
“A dark and gripping novel of betrayal, real and imaginary . . .
The disparate threads of this cerebral thriller are expertly—nay,
brilliantly—entwined, short jump-cut chapters adding pace without
blunting the book’s serious edge. The dialogue crackles with
everyday inconsistencies, and Trotti, a tortured soul trapped in a
shell of ruthless perfection, is both credible and original. Don’t
retire just yet, Commissario.”
—Bloodhound
“Breathtakingly good . . . There are many splendid things about
this absorbing, resonant novel: the elliptical dialogue,
occasionally reminiscent of Chandler, the care with which minor
charactors are drawn; the sureness of touch in dealing with
delicate shifts in relationships.”
—London Evening Standard
“Well-written, evoking a true Italian sphere.”
—Argus Weekender
“With offbeat dialogue, curious sidelights, and a convincing
psycho-solution
to the central mystery, this thick Italian tangle is edgily
absorbing and darkly
rewarding.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Williams never writes a straightforward novel . . . Here again is
a brooding maze for Trotti to traverse to an ending full of
surprise.”
—Library Journal
“As in the authors's previous novels, The Metal Green Mercedes and
The Red Citroen, the principle pleasure is in the hero, the
taciturn Italian policeman Commissioner Trotti and the unique world
he inhabits . . . Trotti himself is perversely lovable; totally
dedicated but not without dark, self-deprecating humor.”
—Booklist
“[A] terse but elegant narrative that moves forward in slanting
leaps rather than pedantic plods . . . Highly recommended, as with
the first two in the series.”
—International Noir Fiction
Praise for the Commissario Piero Trotti series
"A delight.”
—The Observer, "10 Best Modern European Crime Writers"
"Subtle, tense and gripping.”
—Val McDermid
“Commissario Trotti is clever and tough . . . His investigation is
fascinating to an American reader because it offers insights into
the Italian power structure, which is far more interesting than it
is stable.”
—Newsday
“Long live Trotti.”
—Financial Times
“Superb.”
—The Scotsman
“Breathtakingly good.”
—Evening Standard
“The ageing moody Trotti is a subtle and convincing creation; the
other characters are portrayed with depth and sensitivity, and the
Italian atmosphere is authentically beguiling. First-rate in every
way.”
—The Times
“Simple but stylish . . . [Williams's] plotting [is]
impeccable.”
—Time Out
“Fans of dark-edged, politically textured Euro-mystery will want to
keep track of Trotti’s adventures.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Stylish and excellent. Those who like Dibdin will eat it up.”
—Lionel Davidson
“Williams writes like an angel. He does, but thank Beelzebub, it's
a mongrel angel with a bit of fiend about him.”
—Oxford Times
“Trotti himself is perversely lovable; totally dedicated but not
without dark, self-deprecating humor.”
—Booklist
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