The Treasure Hunt (Inspector Montalbano mysteries) - Tapa dura

The Treasure Hunt is the sixteenth gripping novel in Andrea Camilleri's bestselling Inspector Montalbano series. Montalbano opened the door to step out. But Gallo held him back, putting one hand on his arm. 'What's in there, Chief?' 'If it's what I think, it's something so horrific that it'll haunt your dreams for the rest of your life . . .' When a crazed elderly man and his sister begin firing bullets from their balcony down onto the Vigata street below, Inspector Montalbano finds himself a reluctant television hero. A few days later, when a letter arrives containing a mysterious riddle, the Inspector becomes drawn into a perplexing treasure hunt set by an anonymous challenger. As the hunt intensifies, Montalbano is relieved to be offered the assistance of Arturo Pennisi, a young man eager to witness the detective's investigative skills first hand. Fending off meddling commissioners and his irate girlfriend, Livia, the inspector will follow the treasure hunt's clues and travel from Vigata's teeming streets to its deserted outskirts: where an abandoned house overlooks a seemingly bottomless lake. But when a horrifying crime is committed, the game must surely be laid aside. And it isn't long before Montalbano himself will be in terrible danger . . . The Treasure Hunt is followed by the seventeenth Inspector Montalbano title, Angelica's Smile.

Andrea Camilleri is one of Italy's most famous contemporary writers. The Inspector Montalbano series has been translated into thirty-two languages and was adapted for Italian television, screened on BBC4. The Potter's Field, the thirteenth book in the series, was awarded the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger for the best crime novel translated into English. In addition to his phenomenally successful Inspector Montalbano series, he is also the author of the historical comic mysteries Hunting Season and The Brewer of Preston. He lives in Rome.