The Terracotta Dog

By: Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli - translator

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

Set in Sicily, The Terracotta Dog is the second novel in the humorous Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.

*Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series*

After a cloak and dagger exchange with an ageing Mafioso, Inspector Montalbano is left haunted by the man’s dying words, which lead him to a mountainside just west of Vigàta where he unearths two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terracotta dog.

Heedless of personal danger, Montalbano’s drive to solve this old crime forces him on a journey through Sicily’s World War II history and to the dark heart of one family . . .

The Terracotta Dog is followed by the third title in this satirical series, The Snack Thief.

Critic reviews

Montalbano's colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today

Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb

One of fiction's greatest detectives and Camilleri is one of Europe's greatest crime writers

Montalbano solves two cases

Mafia criminals and two young murder victims. Two cases for Montalbano to solve.
Overall this story kept me interested but I have to say that Montalbano's treatment of Livia in this book really annoys me. He ignores her and leaves her on her own etc; etc... I don't know why she puts up with him, I really don't. Montalbano shows no sign that he wants to marry her, he enjoys his single state. He uses her for his intimate requirements, that's all.