Twenty years ago, Guido fell in love with Lorenza, a beautiful older woman who ultimately discarded him. Now, in this latest instalment in the acclaimed Guido Guerrieri series, The Measure of Time, and our March Book of the Month, Lorenza has turned to Guido for help – that he is reluctant to give.
Lorenza’s son, Jacopo, is a small-time delinquent who has recently been convicted of the murder of a local drug dealer. Between the original trial and the appeal, the lawyer Lorenza hired to defend her son has died, so she arrives as Guerrieri’s office one Spring afternoon looking to engage his services. Guerrieri isn’t exactly thrilled to see her – he doesn’t believe Jacopo is innocent, and his relationship with Lorenza ended badly two decades ago – but accepts the case all the same, in a melancholy homage to his past.
You can hear more about The Measure of Time in the video below.
Praise for Gianrico Carofiglio and The Measure of Time:
The author occupies a niche similar to Erle Stanley Gardner and John Grisham. Carofiglio has endowed his hero with a discriminating taste for good food, but none of their relish for brutality. – Times Literary Supplement
“As exacting and contemplative as any crime writer I can think of. Yet when the Italian defense lawyer isn’t doing something, he is thinking, and what goes on in his doubt-stuffed head is always captivating.” – Washington Post
“Hard-boiled and sun-dried in equal parts. Where Philip Marlowe would be knocking back bourbon and listening to the snap of fist on jaw, Guerrieri prefers Sicilian wine and Leonard Cohen.” – Financial Times
“Deceptively simple and thought-provoking, Gianrico Carofiglio’s The Measure of Time is a compelling trial tale shot-through with the distinctly contemplative personality of its flawed, charismatic protagonist, defence attorney Guerrieri.” – LoveReading

The Measure of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio is published by Bitter Lemon Press on 18th March 2021 (9781913394486, p/b, £8.99)
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