Semplicemente stupendo e aggiungere altro sarebbe solo un’inutile ripetizione di quanto di meglio si possa dire di uno scrittore unico, di un libro imperdibile e di una serie tanto famosa quanto amata. ( )

Vigata is in turmoil because of film is being shot on location, most importantly interfering with daily lunch meals. To get a feeling for the place, the director has asked for old films, producing weird ones of a blank wall, all shot on the same day of the year, where a suicide too place in the late 1950s. His nephew asks Inspector Montalbano to investigate this ancient death. Meanwhile, one of his detective's son is in trouble at school for fighting to protect a tech-savvy schoolmate from bullies. When two masked men break into the school, and start shooting, everyone is worried about terrorism. There are no leads, and Montalbano cuts short his visit with Livia, and starts a series of detailed interviews to see what he can glean, eventually making a break through. I thought both plots were a bit weird although 90-year old Camilleri certainly does keep up with topical events. ( )

"Un nuevo festín de Montalbano", Guillermo Altares, El País 28.04.2021: https://elpais.com/cultura/2021/04/27/elemental/1619508861_883686.html

"No, no, era da tempo che sapiva che la virità, certe vote, è meglio tinirla allo scuro, allo scuro cchiù fitto, senza manco la luci di un fiammifiro"

Sicily, law-enforcement, angst, mystery, investigation, relationships*****

Another man's puzzle, the madness of a TV crew on a prolonged shoot in Vigata, problems with his second in command, problems in a local school, problems with his long time girlfriend are more than enough for Commissario Montalbano even as local crime seems to be on holiday. It's a wonderfully convoluted novel written several years before the author's death but only translated into English in 2020. I loved it!
In case you didn't know, the great truth about the Montalbano mysteries is that if it seems obvious, it isn't the truth.
Steven Sartorelli is the deviously clever translator, and Grover Gardner is the narrator extraordinaire. ( )