Features Inspector Fabio Montale, the Marseilles flick fond of pretty women, good food and drink - and solo fishing trips. What will his catch be this time?

"Izzo is one of three Europeran crime writers whose growing literary renown (not to mention huge sales) is leading to a recognizable new trend in continental fiction: the rise of the sophisticated Mediterranean thriller. Izzo has a taste for fatalistic heroes who seem to love their food as much as their women and a gift for rat-a-tat dialogue..." - Economist

HIf father was born in Italia and emigrated to Marseille in 1920. HIs mother was born in Marseille. In 1964, he did his national service, first in Toulon, then in Djibouti. He went to jail for a month and lost 15 kilos. He follows the PCF (French Communist Party). He then becomes journalist and after that chief editor of the communist daily La Marseillaise. In 1970, he publishes his first poems collection, Poemes a Voix Haute. He leaves the PCF in 1978. He leaves Marseille, and writes in various magazines. He then publish three books belonging to a crime serie which takes place in Marseille. He comes back to Provence. Latern he publishes some poems (Loin de Tous les Rivages), Les Marins Perdus and several short stories (1997). He publishes Le Soleil des Mourants in 1999 and dies just after from an illness.