"Un paese disonesto”. I romanzi e l’inchiesta Mani Pulite

The article tries to analyze the ways in which twelve novels, published during the last thirty years (1993-2021), have described the «Clean Hands» or «Bribesville» historical season. It does it by including those novels in a three-stage itinerary: 1) novels coeval to the investigations (1992-1994); 2) novels published up to the twentieth anniversary of the investigations (1995-2012); 3) novels published in the 2012-2021 decade. As a whole, these novels offer a series of questions representing as many scientific research tracks on Clean Hands. Through them, one can contextualize the 1992-1994 period on the broader horizon of the Italian republican history; look at the early Nineties inquiries as an «imagined» and not real revolution; consider the media representation of Clean Hands as a large part of the theme itself; «touch» feelings and psychological moods of Italian people at the time of investigation; reflect on the rulers-ruled relationship theme; observe the Clean Hands representation geographies; and finally to focus on public image of the most significant figures of Bribesville time.