A Simple Story appears at first glance to be a simple narrative, but it is actually a complex Sicilian detective story with implicit themes of the mafia and drugs. Intriguingly, the author carefully avoids these loaded words. The story begins with a mysterious phone call to the police that ends with an abrupt message and an apparent suicide. From those moments, the story unfolds rapidly, like the blossoming of a flower suddenly coming to life, leaving the reader little time to reflect deeply on the events.
The protagonist, an observant police sergeant, and the readers are challenged to react rapidly to developments, even as they become entangled in a web of events that continues to grow in complexity. A crucial scene in the novel perfectly captures this need for sharp reflexes: time seems to shrink to a mere fraction of a second. This perhaps reflects the final challenge for those still rigorously and meticulously searching for the truths and possibilities that justice can bring.