The Other End Of The Line

"Wholly addictive, entirely magical series, set in Sicily and starring a detective unlike any other in crime fiction... altogether transporting."--A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author A WASHINGTON POST BEST MYSTERY OF 2019 A BEST BOOK OF 2019, NPR's Book Concierge A wave of refugees has arrived on the Sicilian coast, and Inspector Montalbano and his team have been stationed at port, alongside countless volunteers, to receive and assist the newcomers. Meanwhile, Livia has promised their presence at a friend's wedding, and the inspector, agreeing to get a new suit tailored, meets the charming master seamstress Elena Biasini. But while on duty at the dock one late night, tragedy strikes, and a woman is found gruesomely murdered. Between managing the growing crowds at the landing, Montalbano delves into the world of garments, in the company of an orphaned cat, where he works to weave together the loose threads of the unsolved crimes and close the case.

The Other End of the Line is the twenty-fourth darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano mystery from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri. In Inspector Montalbano’s coastal town of Vigàta, a surge of migrants have been coming in by boat, and all the town’s hands are on deck to help the arrivals. At the heart of the scene are the police – on the lookout for the people smugglers responsible – and long night-shifts are rendering Inspector Montalbano and his officers exhausted. Then one night, while Montalbano is enduring yet another gruelling stint at the port, a separate crime is committed – unexplained, unexpected, and unpleasant. Elena, the dressmaker at the town’s famous tailors, has been found dead – slaughtered by her own scissors . . . As a swell of desperate people arrive in search of a better life, Inspector Montalbano finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the dressmaker. But as he makes his enquiries, the Inspector can’t help but wonder: what will happen if he keeps tugging on this thread? And what will he find at the end of the line?