Chief Inspector Montalbano is called to the scene f a murder, early one morning. A young man in his early 20s, well dressed with a bullet hold between the eyes. He has no job, but yet he lives in an expensive apartment with expensive contents.

When Montalbano arrives at headquarters, there is a man demanding to see him. The man’s elderly parents have been missing for a few days. The man is extremely upset.

Interesting…the missing couple and the murder victim live in the same apartment building. Is there a connection?

Montalbano has little to go on for himself and his department. Bit by bit they make connections toward both cases.

This is the first book of the series I’ve read and I know it won’t be the last. The characters have the necessary abilities to solve crimes, but there are the quirks that make them each unique. A touch of humour doesn’t hurt either. The pace of the book is good and keeps the reader engaged. ( )

En esta novela nos reencontramos con los entrañables personajes que pueblan la imaginaria localidad de Vigàta, en Sicilia: desde Livia, la novia genovesa de Montalbano, hasta Ingrid, su sensual amiga sueca, pasando por el voluntarioso Catarella y Mimì Augello, el fiel subcomisario. En esta ocasión, sin embargo, el inspector tiene que emplearse a fondo para resolver dos casos que parecen no tener nada en común: el asesinato de un joven y la desaparición de un matrimonio de ancianos durante una excursión a Tindari. Tras profundas reflexiones bajo un añoso árbol, descubre la pista que lo conducirá hasta una siniestra organización con la que más le valdría no haberse topado.

I used to reserve the Inspector Montalbano audiobooks for road trip listening with The Hubster. Since Covid there have been far fewer road trips and most of those have been 3 hours or so to the Oregon coast so not worthy of an audiobook for us to listen to together.

After finishing Heaven’s River I wanted some shorter audiobooks for a while and decided to continue with this series and The Hubster can also continue on his own commuting time listening.

Montalbano gets involved in two cases. The first involves a young man who is found murdered on the doorstep of his apartment building. Then the son of an elderly couple reports that they have gone missing. When it turns out that the couple live in the same apartment building and the murdered man, Montalbano wonders if there is a connection.

As with the other books in this series it was fairly quick and entertaining audio. Grover Gardner does a great job with Montabano’s mix of sarcasm, grumpiness, and love of gourmet food. ( )

Il commissario Montalbano è impegnato in una nuova indagine tra l'immaginaria Vigàta e il promontorio di Tindari. Un triplice omicidio è avvenuto: un giovane dongiovanni che viveva al di sopra dei suoi mezzi apparenti, due anziani pensionati seppelliti in casa che improvvisamente decidono una gita a Tindari. Li collega, sembra, solo un condominio. Ma Montalbano ha una maledizione, sa leggere i segni che provengono dall'"antichissimo" che vive nel "modernissimo" continente Sicilia: lo aiutano un vecchio ulivo contorto, la sua squadra, la svedese Ingrid, un libro di Conrad e un Innominato senza pentimento.
Source: Amazon - January 11, 2022

An aged mother and father disappear on a day trip to a local city and a young man living well above his means is murdered outside the building in which they both live. Inspector Montalbano is asked to get involved as the responsible police team is laid up. Using his intuition, Salvo and his odd team once again marshall forces to find how the two parties are related. Meantime, an aging mafioso tries to involve Salvo in "family" matters. ( )