The Treasure Hunt (Inspector Montalbano mysteries, Band 16)

Montalbano opened the door to step out. But Gallo held him back, putting one hand on his arm.
'What's in there, Chief?'
'If it's what I think, it's something so horrific that it'll haunt your dreams for the rest of your life . . .'

When a crazed elderly man and his sister begin firing bullets from their balcony down onto the Vigàta street below, Inspector Montalbano finds himself a reluctant television hero. A few days later, when a letter arrives containing a mysterious riddle, the Inspector becomes drawn into a perplexing treasure hunt set by an anonymous challenger.

Fending off meddling commissioners and his irate girlfriend, Livia, the inspector will follow the treasure hunt's clues and travel from Vigàta's teeming streets to its deserted outskirts: where an abandoned house overlooks a seemingly bottomless lake. But when a horrifying crime is committed, the game must surely be laid aside. And it isn't long before Montalbano himself will be in terrible danger . . .

'Montalbano's colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today' Guardian

'A magnificent series of novels' Sunday Times