Joseph Kanon's exciting new historical novel is set in the romantic city of Venice, just after the official closing of WWII. Though this intriguing story turns around a murder mystery, the solving of the crime is not a focus for the reader. The true intrigue of Alibi lies in the suspenseful unravelling of each character's ethical essense. Reading this mystery, one is reminded of the grand subterfuge that takes place outside the actual theatres of war, forcing individuals to act when all the familiar boundaries of moral conduct have turned blurry, and personal survival requires shifting loyalties. In this novel, Adam Miller is joining his widowed aristocratic mother in Venice. He is recovering from his role as an investigator with the American army based in Frankfurt, Germany, - a contingent devoted to investigating war crimes, and Nazi war criminals. While Venice is soothing in it's boundless surface beauty, Adam is offended by the aristocrats his mother surrounds herself with. Their lavish lifestyles and social routines leave them oblivious or indifferent to the real suffering taking place everywhere around them. While Adam patiently endures the superficial daily concerns of his mother, he becomes more and more alarmed by her naivety and vulnerability, especially as he learns of her plans to marry an old Italian acquaintance, Dr. Gianni Maglione. Is he plotting for her money, or does he really love Grace? Meanwhile, Adam has taken a lover of his own, Claudia Grassini, a woman of many secrets, who is herself a survivor of an Italian concentration camp. When Claudia is introduces to Adam's future step father at a cocktail party, she identifies the doctor as a fascist collaborator, responsible for her father's death, and her own brutal internment. Adam immediately launches his own investigation to expose Dr. Maglione, save his lover from certain persecution, and prevent his mother's marriage. But Maglione is powerful, well connected, and a master at manipulation. A delightfully complex mystery, deftly written, and sure to stimulate a burning curiousity unto the last page. Wonderfully entertaining.

 

Winner of the Hammett Prize

 

It is 1946, and Adam Miller has come to Venice to visit his widowed mother and try to forget the horrors he has witnessed as a U.S. Army war crimes investigator in Germany. But when he falls in love with Claudia, a Jewish woman scarred by her devastating experiences during World War II, he is forced to confront another Venice, a city still at war with itself, haunted by atrocities it would rather forget. Everyone, including his mother's suave new Venetian suitor, has been compromised by the occupation, and Adam finds himself at the center of a web of deception, intrigue, and unexpected moral dilemmas. When is murder acceptable? What are the limits of guilt? How much is someone willing to pay for a perfect alibi?
 
Alibi is at once a murder mystery, a love story, and a superbly crafted novel about the nature of moral responsibility.

"Burrowing deeply into Patricia Highsmith territory, Kanon has crafted an absorbing tale. . . . [Kanon] is frequently compared to the likes of John le Carré and Graham Greene. With Alibi, he shows that he's up to the comparison."--San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Kanon's richest, most full-blooded work to date . . . [He] has mastered the art of the historical thriller."--The New York Times Book Review
 
"Disturbing and hypnotically readable, Alibi is a mystery, a love story, and a work of philosophy--and a perfect companion for the thriller reader who wants a philosophical challenge, as well as entertainment."--Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
"Joseph Kanon is a specialist in superior historical thrillers. . . . Moody, deeply atmospheric, and as labyrinthine as the streets of Venice."--The Seattle Times
 
"Alibi is a thriller with a slide-rule perfect plot. . . . Wholly engrossing and one of the finest thrillers you will read this year--up there with the classics of the genre."--The Daily Telegraph (London)

"If you want to explore life, love, death, beauty, and moral confusion--all glimpsed from a gondola, so to speak--you won't do much better than this."--The Washington Post

 

"Once again Kanon has written a novel set against the backdrop of World War II that is evocative and sensitive, moody and thought-provoking."--Arizona Daily Star
 
"Alibi is an absorbing and fast-paced book."--New Mystery Reader Magazine
 
"Kanon keeps us turning pages. . . . His best book yet."--The Winston-Salem Journal
 
"Kanon juxtaposes a powerful love story and a gripping thriller against a palpable historical moment. . . . The novel holds us completely, with its vision of a sadly inadequate hero striking deep at our worst fears about ourselves."--Booklist
 
"You will admire this book for its descriptions of the theatrically beautiful Venetian cityscape and for its engrossing rendition of the city's postwar hangover-party mood--plus the inclusion of a cracking good murder mystery."--The News & Observer
 
"Extraordinarily well-crafted and well-written . . . Kanon's storytelling talents for intrigue may be unparalleled."--Deseret Morning News
 
"Kanon offers such vivid sensory detail that a reader emerges as steeped in atmospherics as a seasoned diplomat with a passport full of visa stamps. You feel initiated, as if you've been let in on some dark and well-kept secrets from some of the twentieth century's most pivotal moments. . . . In Kanon's eclectic cast of policemen, soldiers, revolutionaries, and ex-pat socialites, no one is spared the deep, dark smudges offered by war and its aftermath."--Baltimore Sun
 
"If you want to explore life, love, death, beauty, and moral confusion, you won't do much better than this."--San Jose Mercury News

Joseph Kanon is the author of three previous novels, The Good German, Los Alamos, and The Prodigal Spy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a book publishing executive. He lives in New York City.

Imprint: Picador
Distributor: MPS
Publication Date: 05-16-2006
Pages: 416
Measurements: 8.25in X 5.50in