A Walk in the Dark

Carofiglio is an anti-Mafia prosecutor in the southern Italian city of Bari, and maybe someday he'll write a novel with a main character who faces the same kinds of challenges as he does. Until then, we have this second book (after 2005's Involuntary Witness ), a bestseller in Italy, starring Bari defense lawyer Guido Guerrieri, who could have just gotten off an Alitalia flight from the Land of Grisham or the Los Angeles of Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer . Guerrieri can't resist taking on a case no other lawyer will touch, that of Martina Fumai, who has accused her vicious ex-boyfriend, the son of a powerful judge, of assault. Colorful characters, unexpected plot twists and smooth, often sharp writing ("The best of Vietnamese New Wave.... The kind of music I love so much I can even listen to it for five minutes at a stretch") will keep readers turning the pages. (Oct.)