My Mother-in-Law Drinks

A hapless Italian lawyer is wrapped up in the mock trial of a mafia boss in this “rollicking novel”—a “hilarious and touching” satire of the digital age (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).

A mild-mannered computer engineer has pulled off a seemingly impossible crime—kidnapping the Neapolitan mafia boss he believes is responsible for the death of his son. He plans to conduct an impromptu trial on live television during which he will list the various crimes of the accused, sentencing him before a captivated national audience and executing him accordingly.

The standoff between law enforcement officers and the kidnapper quickly escalates into a tragi-comic reality show. The only hope of a happy ending rests with Vincenzio Malinconico, Neapolitan lawyer and walking mid-life crisis. Vincenzio hardly has a reputation for decisiveness, but now is called upon to resolve this drama with, hopefully, no loss of life—especially his own.

In this hilarious sequel to his Naples Prize–winning novel I Hadn’t Understood, Diego De Silva revisits the hapless yet charismatic Vincenzo Malinconico—“the sort of man you marry twice, and leave both times.”