The collection of short stories represents the leading contemporary masters of the crime genre in Italy - Giorgio Faletti, Sandrone Dazieri, Andrea Camilleri, Carlo Lucarelli and others. Nine works were selected in such a way as to most fully reveal to the reader the entire diversity of the genre - from the classic detective-investigation with realistic characters and situations (C. Lucarelli, M. Carlotto, M. Fois, S. Dazieri) to an absurdist parody, consistent in style black humor (N. Ammaniti and A. Manzini), a mysterious murder story with mystical overtones (G. Faletti) and a scary Christmas tale with a happy ending (G. De Cataldo). The themes of terrorism, mafia, corruption of the authorities and the police, always topical for Italy, coexist here with tragicomic plots, where the mainspring of the action is the game of chance, human weaknesses and passions, adventurous attempts to solve one’s problems with the help of a clever scam... In general, the anthology is a collective portrait “Italian noir” - a cutting-edge national version of the detective story.