Tonino Benacquista Books In Order

Holy Smoke

Boisterous black comedy…
funny and goodhearted, with much incident and expert enthusiasm for sex, food and drink. The Literary Review Much to enjoy in the clash of cultures and superstitions, even a tasty recipe for poisoning your friends with pasta. Detail like this places European crime writing on a par with its American counterpart. Belfast Independent Some favors simply cannot be refused. Tonio agrees to write a love letter for Dario, a low rent Paris gigolo. When Dario is murdered, a single bullet to the head, Tonio finds he has been left a small vineyard near Naples. The wine is undrinkable, but an elaborate scam has been set up. The smell of easy money attracts the unwanted attentions of the Mafia and the Vatican and the unbridled hatred of the locals. Mafiosi aren t choir boys, and monsignors can be very much like Mafiosi. Winner of three mystery prizes in one year, including the Grand Prix de la Litt rature Polici re and the Prix Myst re de la Critique. Tonino Benacquista, born in France of Italian immigrants, dropped out of film studies to finance his writing career. After being in turn a museum watchman, a train guard on the Paris Rome line and a professional parasite on the Paris cocktail circuit, he is now a highly successful author of fiction and film scripts.

Framed

Praise for Holy Smoke, the first in the Antoine series:

‘A terrific black comedy both a blasphemously funny satire of provincial Italian chicanery and a wry acknowledgment of the ambivalence that ambitious immigrants feel about their roots.’ The New York Times

‘Unexpected deadly demands made in the name of friendship inspire the plot of this quirky mystery novel. Irreverently inveighs against romantic love, cancer and the Paris suburbs.’ The Washington Post

‘An iconoclastic chronicle of small time crooks and desperate capers, with added Gallic and Italian flair. Wonderful fun.’ Guardian

Antoine, a fanatic billiards player, is asked to watch over a Paris art gallery. When he scuffles with a thief a statue falls and severs his right hand. His maverick investigation leads to the discovery of a series of gruesome killings. Soon Antoine finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of a gallery owner. A game of billiards decides the outcome of this satirical tale which brilliantly captures the world of modern art and the parasites that infest it.

After being, in turn, a museum night watchman, and a train guard on the Paris Rome line, Tonino Benacquista is now a highly successful author of fiction and film scripts.

Someone Else

‘Breathless pace. Touches effortlessly on identity, love, alcohol, and the cynicism of the business world.’ Les Echos

Who hasn’t wanted to become ‘Someone Else‘? Over a drink in Paris, two men give each other three years to see which one can more radically alter his life. Blin becomes a private detective. He takes on a new identity, even a surgically altered face. Gredzinski, a self effacing corporate executive, discovers liquor that evening and rapidly yields to the sensuality and self confidence induced by alcoholism. Things get complicated when Blin is hired by an ex lover to find himself and when Gredzinski secretly follows his girlfriend to her home. A helter skelter tale of humor and suspense.

Winner of the literary prize RTL Lire.