A leading figure in Italian crime fiction, he was born in 1958 in Naples, where he lives and works. He won the 'Tiro Rapido' Prize with a story set in Naples in the Thirties featuring police commissioner, Luigi Alfredo Ricciardi, whose investigations in Fascist Italy immediately attracted the attention of readers. The novel was published by Fandango Libri (and now by Einaudi) with the title "Il senso del dolore", kicking off a famous series of noirs which with "Serenata senza nome" (2016) and "Rondini in inverno" (2017) is now at ten books. With "Il metodo del coccodrillo", winner of the Premio Scerbanenco 2012, De Giovanni created a new memorable gallery of characters and cycle of novels (the most recent being "Pane", 2016) where Inspector Lojacono made his appearance. Together with crime writing, he has an unwavering passion for football and his favourite team, Napoli, has been included in much of his writing, including the book "Il resto della settimana", a story which takes place among fans in a bar on Sundays and which draws inspiration from a faith in football that becomes something like heart disease. Several of his books have been translated or are currently being translated in France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Russia and the United States.

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)