Giancarlo De Cataldo (born 7 February 1956) is an Italian crime novelist, screenwriter and dramatist.

Born in Taranto, De Cataldo graduated in law and worked as a magistrate, becoming a judge at the Corte d'Assise in Rome.

[1] He made his literary debut in 1989, with the novel Nero come il cuore ("As black as the heart"), which has been described as a "mix of detective story, noir and legal thriller".

[2] He is best known for the novels Romanzo Criminale (2002), which was adapted into a film by Michele Placido, and Suburra (2015), co-written with Carlo Bonini and adapted into a film by Stefano Sollima.

[1][3] Also an essayist, a playwright, a translator, a radio and television writer and a screenwriter, De Cataldo's credits include Mario Martone's We Believed, for which he won a David di Donatello Award.