SHAPE OF WATER

The first thrilling mystery in the darkly funny Sicilian Inspector Montalbano mystery series. Wry and compelling, Inspector Salvo Montalbano is as honest as he is streetwise, and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims. 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 flavour, but their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily - but Inspector Montalbano is not ready to close the case, even though he is being pressurised by the police chief, judge and bishop. He picks his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, delicious meals, vendetta fire power and carefully planted false clues. We have four to collect in this marvellous series. 256 page paperback.