"The goats of Vigata once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavor. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendor Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily....

Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; and antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna, whose charms Montalbano cannot help but appreciate. But it is a mysterious, reclusive violinist who holds the key to this murder.

The moody Inspector Montalbano is further beset by the existential questions that have been plaguing him of late. But he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man--shot at point-blank range in the face with his pants down--commands his attention. Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, some dirty cocaine, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated...

As he investigates a complex financial scam that has cost the life savings of half the retirees in Vigàta, Sicilian Inspector Montalbano confronts challenges in both his personal and professional life.

An unidentified corpse is found near Vigàta, a town known for its soil rich with potter's clay. Meanwhile, a woman reports the disappearance of her husband, a Colombian man with Sicilian origins who turns out to be related to a local mobster. Then Inspector Montalbano remembers the story from the Bible-- Judas's betrayal, the act of remorse, and the money for the potter's field, where those of unknown or foreign origin are to be buried-- and slowly,...

Montalbano quickly slammed the trunk shut and sat down on top of it. When the beam from Livia's torch shone on his face, he automatically smiled. 'What's in the trunk?' Livia asked. 'Nothing. It's empty.' How could he possibly have told her there was a corpse inside? The lazy, slow month of August at the height of the Sicilian summer is, Inspector Montalbano assures his girlfriend Livia as they prepare for a relaxing holiday in a villa he has found...

Things are not going well for Inspector Salvo Montalbano. His long-distance relationship with Livia is on the rocks, his age is catching up with him, and he's getting tired of the violence that is part of his job. Then the dead body of a young woman is found. Her identity is at first unknown, but the tattoo of a sphinx moth on her left shoulder links her with three other girls bearing the same mark who have been rescued from the Mafia nightclub circuit...

Before leaving for vacation, Inspector Montalbano witnesses a seagull doing an odd dance on the beach outside his home, when the bird suddenly drops dead. Stopping in at his office for a quick check before heading off, he notices that his right-hand man, Fazio, is nowhere to be found. Montalbano sets out to find him and discovers that the seagull's dance of death may provide the key to understanding a macabre world of sadism, extortion, and murder....