Big Italy Paperback - 2015

Media reviews

Praise for Big Italy

“Subtle, tense and gripping, Big Italy explores the corruption that feeds on Italian life, from the top to the bottom of the pile. The dialogue is oblique and spare, the breakdowns in communication reflecting the corrosion of relationships between vivid and credibly drawn characters.” 
—Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News

“Splendidly realised in four previous novels, Timothy Williams’ morose Italian [Commissario Trotti] is contemplating retirement....Williams’ pared-down descriptions and staccato dialogue are a constant pleasure.”
—Financial Times 

“Commissario Trotti is an inspired creation.” 
—Sunday Times

“Stylish and excellent. Those who like Dibdin will eat it up.” 
—Lionel Davidson

“Wake up and smell the grappa. Big Italy is a chilling education, a scalpel-sharp exploration of Italy’s body politic. Timothy Williams knows the ABC of corruption—Andreotti, Berlusconi, Craxi—and is a convincing and compelling voice.”
—Ian Rankin

“A glorious, intoxicating mix of Italian melodrama and mystery lovingly brought to life by a writer who really takes you there. Grazie, Signor Williams.”
—David Jensen, Capital Radio
  
“Williams serves up rich and complex plots about politics, corruption and love...Strong characters, a twisting plot and rich in Italian atmosphere.”
—Lancashire Evening Post
 
“The highly praised Timothy Williams has created a splendid character in Commissario Trotti. The writer's spare dialogue and descriptive skills are put to eloquent work to evoke corruption and conspiracy in Big Italy.”
—Evening Express
 
“Beautifully told by Williams who controls the whole [storyline] with great skill.”
—Birmingham Evening Post
 
“[Williams] is perhaps the best of the distinguished crop of non-Italian crime fiction writers whose work is set in Italy, a literary generation that includes Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Michael Dibdin....I can wholeheartedly encourage readers who are interested in atypical, ambitious, and atmospheric crime writing to [try the] Trotti novels.”
—International Noir Fiction
 
“[Williams’] brilliant ear for dialogue puts one in mind of George V. Higgins and every character is sketched in with an artist's eye for colour and contrast. A sheer delight.”
—Crime and Detective Stories
 
“A complex and fascinating tale of love, politics and corruption. Highly recommended.”
—Publishing News
 
“Set within a contemporary Italian milieu, Timothy Williams's latest book comes across as a labour of love, possessing a patient fidelity in portraying Italian life and mores. Finely constructed...political scandal, murder and, of course, food, served in generous yet healthy portions. A Mediterranean diet to be savoured.”
—Crime Trail

“Big Italy is the sort of novel Hammett might have written if he’d lived in Italy in the eighties or early nineties. Big themes, lots of cynicism and the overall impression of powerlessness when faced with corruption....Timothy Williams is a major contender.” 
—Tangled Web