But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection, 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. All he wants is a quiet corner and an uninterrupted afternoon what reader feels otherwise?Īnother sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.Ī week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Montalbano’s deadpan drollery and sharp observations refresh as much for their honesty as their wit. Montalbano’s investigation focuses more on academic research than witness questioning, but ends with perpetrators very much alive and dangerous. The skeletons of two young lovers, long-forgotten, are discovered near the terra-cotta dog, a symbol of sleep from the Koran. In a neighboring cave lies a 60-year-old murder mystery that becomes a surprising obsession and gives the book its title.

Ultimately, Tano’s enemies kill him, but the escapade leads Montalbano on a twisty hunt from a supermarket picked cleaned of merchandise to a cave where this booty is found, along with a cache of illegal arms.

Their staged arrest of Tano flirts with hilarious disaster. Montalbano’s force resembles the Keystone Kops. His superior investigative gifts are at odds with his slacker style, the latter a huge frustration to ambitious protégé Mimi and demanding mistress Livia and the windy police Commissioner, who tries to thrust an unwanted promotion on elusive Montalbano. Montalbano is dubious, but doesn’t look this gift horse in the mouth. Facing a health crisis, Tano wants Montalbano to stage a fake raid that will land him safely in custody (and in hospital), for a rejuvenating stay without a loss of face. 454), rumpled Sicilian police inspector Salvo Montalbano receives an unusual offer from crime kingpin Gaetano “The Greek” Bennici (known as Tano), facilitated by Montalbano’s childhood friend Gege Gulotta, now a petty criminal and quite the weasel. In the second installment of the popular Italian series ( The Shape of Water, p.

The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri