Old Acquaintances

"Vecchie conoscenze" (Old Acquaintances) come back to haunt Rocco Schiavone, deputy police superintendent in Aosta - a shrewd, restless man with little time for formalities and bad habits. And so, in the pages of Antonio Manzini's new book (published by Sellerio), one of crime's best-loved characters by critics and audiences alike (in the TV series Rocco is played by the compelling Marco Giallini) is forced to balance his investigation into the murder of Sofia Martinet, an elderly scholar of Leonardo da Vinci, with the personally dangerous consequences of the reappearance of Sebastiano, one of his closest friends since his boyhood in Rome, now a fugitive in search the person who killed his beloved wife. The investigation is as complicated as ever, with questionable clues and only the vaguest inklings of motive. His private entanglements - from compromising friendships and gruff resistance to romantic encounters - cast a shadow over his days. Rocco turns irony into cutting self-criticism. He is also forced to come face to face with his advancing age, or rather "with yearitis, a nasty disease that catches up with everyone, and takes no prisoners." The clearest testimony to his melancholic moods arises in this piece of dialogue with Sara, an archaeologist friend: "What do I think of reality? It stinks.There are very few good smells. Mary, wine, you. Stop". "You must live in reality, Rocco. You are reality". But this reality also reveals a bright escape route. A more serene fondness for a young boy, who is almost like a son. And the glimmer of a re-emerging love affair. Not all "old acquaintances" should be thrown out with the trash. Vecchie conoscenze Antonio Manzini Sellerio, 2021