Reading this book is a thorough pleasure, a perfect blend of realism and lightness. Though the discovery of the corpse is described baldly, the story never delves into grittiness for very long. Camilleri with moments that actually made me laugh out loud, as well as loving descriptions of food and art, two of Montalbano’s interests. While the plot itself is decent enough, the best part of the book are the deft characterization of the characters and the society they live in. That the dialogue succeeds in translating some of the flavor of the Sicilian slang originally used by Camilleri is the mark of a very good translation by Stephen Sartorelli.

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