When Prosecco-loving Auntie Poldi retired to Sicily from Germany, she never dreamed her tranquil days would be interrupted by murder. But Sicily had other plans, and Poldi found herself honor-bound to solve the disappearance of her beloved (and cute) handyman. Now she’s finally ready for some peace and quiet—interrupted by romantic encounters with handsome Chief Inspector Montana, of course—when the water supply to her neighborhood is cut...

Three generations of fishermen conduct an epic struggle against nature, fate, and society in this moving tale by acclaimed realist writer Giovanni Verga. Written in 1881 and set in the Sicilian village of Aci Trezza during the 1860s, the novel recounts an impoverished family's attempts to pay off a crushing debt, to reclaim their lost boat and ancestral home, and to reunite their scattered clan. This groundbreaking work of fiction offers a revealing...

"On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors. But Sicily isn't quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing--and is discovered murdered--she can't help but ask questions. Soon there's an investigation, a smoldering police inspector,...

Since childhood, Rosa Fiore -- daughter of a sultry Sicilian matriarch and her hapless husband -- found solace in her family's kitchen. La Cucina, the heart of the family's lush estate, was a place where generations of Fiore women prepared sumptuous feasts and where the drama of extended family life was played out around the age-old table. When Rosa was a teenager, her own cooking became the stuff of legend in this small community that takes pride...

Inspector Montalbano's investigation into a series of odd kidnappings involving bank employees who are released hours later is complicated by a missing business owner suspected of arson, a secret affair, and a dead body.

"From a fiercely talented writer poised to be a new generation's Rachel Cusk or Deborah Levy, a novel set between the London stage and Sicily, about a daughter who turns her novelist father's fall from grace into a play, and a father who increasingly fears his precocious daughter's voice. August 2020. Sophia, a young playwright, awaits her father's verdict on her new show. A famous author whose novels haven't aged as gracefully into the modern era...

When a colleague extends his summer vacation, Inspector Salvo Montalbano is forced to stay in VigA ta and endure the August heat. Montalbanoas long-suffering girlfriend, Livia, joins him with a friendahusband and young son in towato keep her company during these dog days of summer. But when the boy suddenly disappears into a narrow shaft hidden under the family's beach rental, Montalbano, in pursuit of the child, uncovers something terribly sinister....

This book is based on a true story. "Raffadali, province of Agrigento, 1920s: The Sacco brothers are free men with strong ideas about Socialism and the State. Their lives change radically one morning when their father, Luigi Sacco, receives an anonymous letter from the local Mafia demanding protection money. Luigi tells the police of the extortion letters, but the police don't know what to do: no one in the village has ever dared denounce the Mafia...

One night, Inspector Montalbano dreams of a stormy sea, which he knows represents unease and loss of control. The next day, a boat is found in the port of Vigata, and within it, the body of a disfigured corpse. The waterfront has also drawn in an eighty-five-foot luxury boat passengered by fifty carefree souls and a somewhat shadowy crew. They will have to stay in Vigata until the investigation is over--the man, it seems, was poisoned. However, right...