Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2011.

Already the eleventh volume available in English of the Inspector Montalbano Sicily-set series which is rapidly becoming an acquired taste for the Anglo-Saxon reader (and might even prove more popular should the TV series ever be shown here). Quirky, colourful, and with a unique cop whose taste for food and wine eclipses even Maigret. This time around, he is investigating a case of missing call-girls, his long-distance relationship with his own beloved is on the ricks and, yet again, the Mafia stands in his way. All in a day's sleuthing.

CWA Judges’ comments: ‘Camilleri rings the changes on his familiar cast of characters, while developing his anger at the corruption of a fictional Italian president through Montalbano’s discovery of local worthies involved in international trafficking in women.’

Comparison: David Hewson, Martin Walker, Michael Dibdin
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Synopsis

Things are not going well for Inspector Salvo Montalbano. His long-distance relationship with Livia is on the rocks, he feels himself getting even older and he's growing tired of the violence in his job.

Then the dead body of a young woman is found in an illegal dump, with half her face missing. Her identity at first unknown; a tattoo of a sphinx moth on her left shoulder links her with three other girls bearing the same mark, all recent Russian immigrants to Italy. Victims of an underworld sex trade, these girls have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a Catholic charity organization. The problem is, the other girls can't help Montalbano with his enquiries. They are all missing.

As his investigations progresses, it seems that not everyone wants Montalbano to discover what really lies behind the organisation's charitable facade. And not only does Montalbano have a case to solve, he has a demanding stomach to feed, and he must save his foundering relationship with Livia ...

About the Author

Andrea Camilleri is one of Italy’s most famous contemporary writers. His Montalbano series has been adapted for Italian television and translated into nine languages. He lives in Rome.  His Inspector Salvo Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic, engaging take on Sicilian small-town life and his genius for deciphering the most enigmatic of crimes. Both farcical and endearing, Montalbano is a cross between Columbo and Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, with the added culinary idiosyncrasies of an Italian Maigret’ and if you like authors such as Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Leon and Michael Dibdin you really should try some of his novels. Photograph by Elvira Giogianni. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation