PAPER MOON

Another of these wonderful Italian detective stories, the ninth in the thrilling series. 'Don't come in!' 'He'd detected at once the smell of death in the room.' As he gets older, Inspector Montalbano is plagued by existential questions, but he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man, shot in the face at point-blank range with his pants down. Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, dirty cocaine, dead politicians, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigata. 336 page paperback.