In this eighth mystery starring Andrea Camilleri's Sicilian detective, Montalbano slowly recovers from the injuries he sustained during his last case, thanks in part to the ministrations of his girlfriend Livia. Gradually he shakes off his torpor when a local girl goes missing and the whole community is thrown into an uproar—but why would anyone kidnap the daughter of a poor family, unless they were sure there was a hidden fortune?

"As Montalbano becomes intrigued with the case, he gradually feels himself start to reengage with the rest of humanity.... [The book delivers] a perfectly blended mix of comedy and melancholy, and a hero whose joie de vivre is perpetually under siege from an absurd world."—Booklist