The summer of 1992 is a cold one in southern Italy. The chilling Mafia violence currently sweeping Sicily has spread to Puglia, much to the consternation of Pietro Fenoglio, a local officer of the Carabinieri.
Fenoglio, recently jilted by his wife, must simultaneously deal with his personal crisis and the gang wars raging around Bari. The case is stalled until a Mafia member, suspected of killing the son of a rival mobster, decides to collaborate.
The brutal killings are stopped but the mystery of the boy's murder must still be solved, leading Fenoglio into a world of deep moral ambiguity, where the investigators are hard to distinguish from the investigated.
Inspired by a true story, The Cold Summer is Carofiglio's most hard hitting novel yet.