Inspector Ferraro, the police officer with no redeeming features from the outskirts of Milan, returns with two more cases to solve: the foiled execution of a well-known entrepreneur and the disappearance of a young South American man – all while a deadly virus is raging through China. And even if it seems like something a long way away, it isn’t.

In a wood outside the city, a passing hunter witnesses what is clearly a man’s execution. He somehow manages to scare off the criminals and calls the police. The man who was nearly killed is a big wig, an “ethical” entrepreneur, courted by politicians, who has built his fortune on fighting the mafia and organised crime. Who wanted him dead? The problem is that he doesn’t know. Or perhaps he just won’t tell. With his usual lethargy, Ferraro once again finds himself investigating a case that doesn’t interest him, forced by his boss, Augusto Lanza. On the other hand, there is another investigation that excites him: a woman of South American origin has reported her fifteen-year-old son missing. Links to Latino gangs – people who go around armed with machetes, marking their territories – are suspected. Ferraro therefore leads a double investigation, as usual helped by his colleagues (old and new) and by suggestions from his daughter Giulia, his guide in the disillusioned world of this generation of young people.

From their homes, twenty-six of the most prominent writers in the Italian landscape have given a meaning to these days by choosing to tackle this emergency also with the weapons of literature.

R. Armeni, S. Auci, A. Basso, B. Bellomo, G. Biondillo, C. Bonvicini, F. Bosco, M. Buticchi, C. Caboni, D. Carrisi, A. Dalton, G. Festa, A. Frontani, E. Galiano, A. Gazzola, E. Gnone, M. Gramellini, J. Lahiri, F. Noiville, C. Sánchez, G. Sundas, S. Truzzi, I. Tuti, H. Tuzzi, M. Vichi, A. Vitali.

Nowadays, fear has a new name: Covid-19. The only way to defeat it is to stay at home.  Within the four walls that have always shielded us but which have now become impassable boundaries.

They have become almost an enemy.

And yet, day after day, those who always work with words have discovered that rooms, windows, and even the remotest corners of their homes are wings to carry them out into the world. Every one of them has therefore chosen a way to give life to this magic.

From their homes, twenty-six of the most prominent writers in the Italian landscape have given a meaning to these days by choosing to tackle this emergency also with the weapons of literature.

So as to take their daily lives to the readers who love them.

And they decided to do this together with the publishing house Garzanti by donating all the proceeds to the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo.

Some decided to write about their days, their established routines, about novelties that make you smile. About the tears they cannot stop but also about the force of nature that dissolves the lump in your throat. About forced cohabitation, as well the distancing from people who are dear to you, that feels unbearable. Others write about neighbours who were once strangers but are no longer so, and work that has changed its tools but not its substance. Some admit their error in thinking that it could not all be true or else lend a voice to animals who, on the contrary, are glad this is all true. Others entrust their thoughts about these strange days to beloved characters they have created. Everyone is certain that we will emerge from this more aware of what is truly important, and we will meet, hug, and soon take walks all together. They are certain that solidarity will be the currency we will carry with us and no longer be able to do without.

They are all convinced that words, books and stories bring us together. They create invisible links that break all barriers. When we read we are never alone. And we are strong. And everything appears as it will be. Because all shall be well.

A new investigation by Inspector Ferraro, the lazy, “crumpled” cop with nothing to recommend him, who comes from the outskirts of Milan.

After six years in jail, Sasà, a man with a record of drug dealing, brutal murders, violence and blackmail, walks out through the gate, finally able to head home a free man. His plan now is to retrieve the money he concealed prior to his arrest, take his wife and daughter and disappear into thin air as soon as possible. Given his criminal record, Sasà was destined for a sentence of thirty years at least, so how come he’s out already? It is something Inspector Ferraro has to investigate, unwillingly as usual, in a race against time, as desperate as it is unwanted. Before Sasà is once again drawn to the taste of blood. Something he has never been able to resist.

An inquest into the sparkly and dangerous world of fashion: Inspector Ferraro reluctantly takes on a new investigation.

English Sample Available

After the summer holidays, the city of Milan goes back to work, more nervous than in the past. Inspector Ferraro has also gone back to work, his body and soul both broken by years of work. Forty years old, divorced, having to face an empty fridge every day, a degree that has been shelved away, and a typical sense of loneliness. He would happily desist if he could, but somehow he always ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, Ferraro should have taken his holiday during Fashion Week when the city seems to literally go mad. This time is worse however, after the sensational murder of a top model during one of the most awaited fashion shows and its consequent intense media coverage: the assassin must be found. There is another world however, surrounding the inspector and the bleak world which he works in, which is struggling to survive. There is Mimmo and his ambiguous relationship with the new underworld in the area; there is the clochard, Baffo, who dreams of going back to his native city, because he feels his life is coming to an end; there is Aisha, a young girl fleeing a war on the other side of the Mediterranean. And then there is Biondillo’s writing, which laughs, cries and is moved together with its characters.