A collection of eight ingenious short stories following Inspector Montalbano's investigations into Sicily's murky underworld, all served with Camilleri's trademark wit, and Montalbano's typical appetite.
Featuring stories adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano, this is the perfect place to start reading Sicily's favourite crime author.
From the title story, Death at Sea, in which the alleged manslaughter of an engineer upon a fishing trawler leads Inspector Montalbano to uncover an even more sinister crime, Andrea Camilleri takes his readers through eight cunning cases from the Vigàtan police files. Starting with an arson attack on a hotel which leaves the distraught owner as the chief suspect; to the mysterious case of a woman who goes missing in an underpass with a million lire in her handbag; to a threat on Montalbano's own life, as an anonymous motorcyclist takes a shot at the detective.
'Mr Cipolla, you have two roads before you: on the one hand, thirty years for premeditated murder, and on the other, a few short years for manslaughter and illegal possession of a handgun. The decision is yours. I repeat: what else did Sidoti throw into the sea?'
From the title story, 'Death at Sea', in which an alleged manslaughter upon a fishing trawler leads Inspector Montalbano to uncover an even more sinister crime, Andrea Camilleri takes his readers through eight cunning cases from the Vigàtan police files.
The mysteries include an arson attack on a hotel that places the distraught owner as the chief suspect; the intriguing case of a woman who disappeared with a million lire in her handbag; and a threat on Montalbano's own life, as an anonymous motorcyclist takes a shot at the detective.
Featuring plots adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series, this collection of short stories is the perfect introduction to one of Europe's greatest crime writers.
'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . simply superb' Sunday Times
Montalbano's colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today
