Eddie Muller in Italy

From yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle:

When my colleague Anita Monga learned that the Czar of Noir and his wife were taking a much-needed vacation in Italy, she said, "Good, you need a break -- and Italy is the least noirish place on earth." My vacation reading proved otherwise.

Muller then goes on to review 'Suffer the Little Children' by Donna Leon and also interview the author, who explains her decision to to be published in Italy.

He then moves on to Massimo Carlotto, explaining about the notorious miscarriage of justice surrounding him and what happened afterwards:

Immediately, Carlotto began transforming his life story into a series of hardboiled crime novels that feature a world-view of the most cynical and pessimistic variety. Fortunately, the books aren't bitter, and Carlotto has a lean and rock-hard style that is comparable to the best of Hammett and Cain. "The Colombian Mule" and "The Master of Knots" are terrific reads, but the depth of the philosophical undercurrent raises them to the level of art.

In the UK Orion have published the only two Alligator books translated - The Columbian Mule and The Master of Knots - and in the US Europa Editions have brought out The Goodbye Kiss and Death's Dark Abyss.

Read the whole article here.