Mimi's Ghost

The second Duckworth novel is "A wild and wacky thriller that's like sharing a roller-coaster ride with a suave maniac" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Morris Duckworth can't get over Massimina, or Mimi, as he likes to refers to her. But then, he should have thought of that before he kidnapped and killed her. Only now, living in Verona and married to Mimi's sister, does he appreciate how much he misses her and how blindly he has stumbled into a trap of fate. Struggling to adjust to his good fortune, with a lavish house and cushy job, our unsavory hero finds that his new success is rife with tribulation: not least his pushy bride's staggering sexual appetite and his nosy brother-in-law's meddling questions. So when he visits Mimi's grave and her charming photograph winks at him, he's ready for her advice.

Mimi seems to be suggesting a path to Christian redemption: he will help the poor African immigrants of Verona. But is his sudden altruism genuine or a cover for further malfeasance? And why, despite his apparent sincerity, are those who get in his charitable way so prone to "accidents"? The dark and funny sequel to Cara Massimina, Mimi's Ghost is the ultimate comedy of self-justification.

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Tim Parks is the author of more than twenty novels and works of nonfiction. His novels include Europa, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His most recent work of nonfiction is Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo. His essays have appeared regularly in The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, for which he blogs. He lives in Italy.

"An altogether enchanting novel . . . The humor is sly and understated."—Washington Post

"A chilling portrait of deluded narcissism."—The New York Times Book Review

“Big subject matter, a bravura style, a humor that's angry and exhilarating.”—Chicago Tribune