Italy, too, has its own "heart of darkness." It is, in fact, a nation of murders of passion and family, crimes of greed and revenge, outlaws, mafias, political assassinations, mysteries, and massacres. We have often portrayed ourselves as "good Italians." But alongside a generous and supportive Italy, there exists and has existed a ferocious Italy, intent on destroying and sweeping things under the rug . Furthermore, Italy is a nation where crime reporting has always dominated newspapers and television, and continues to dominate even its new media. Just look at the number of podcasts dedicated to crime and misdemeanors to realize this.
It's no secret that many of these products rely on sensationalism to generate views. They ramp up the macabre, grand guignolesque effects, and evoke mystery even when there isn't any.
Journalist and podcaster Federica Zanni, on the other hand, favors old-school investigations, even when using modern information tools . She loves to investigate with the meticulousness of a detective and raise doubts even when the truth seems obvious, but is actually simply convenient.
This method led to the success of his podcast series and the publication of the volume Irrisolti (Bompiani, 2025, Euro 19.00, pp. 288, also e-book) in which Zanni recounts ten Italian crimes in which the victims did not receive full justice or did not receive it at all .
"Unsolved" is, in fact, a journey into the darkest mysteries of Italian news : ten cases, ten stories of victims left without justice, ten enigmas that continue to puzzle us. From Giuseppe Pinelli, the eighteenth victim of the 1969 Piazza Fontana massacre, to the controversial death of David Rossi (head of communications for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena when the Tuscan banking group was on the verge of collapse), through crimes in which the victims are innocent children and forgotten women, each chapter of the book is a dive into an investigation without answers. Stories of omissions, misdirections, and untold truths.
Francesca Zanni guides us to the crime scenes, reconstructing the details, the relationships between the known (and sometimes unknown) protagonists, and the disturbing shadowy areas. Each victim thus becomes a broken voice that, thanks to these reconstructions, is heard again, asking us not to forget. Because accepting yesterday's injustice means allowing it to repeat itself today.