The Terra-Cotta Dog opens with a mysterious tete-a-tete with a mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and some dying words that lead inspector Montalbano to a secret grotto in a mountainous cave where two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, are watched over by a life-size terra cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island's past and into a family's dark heart amid the horrors of World War II.

Added to my "A World of Crime" Bookbox Round two.

Chosen from the world of crime book box

Great characters, plot twists and descriptions of life and crime in a small Sicilian village,

Putting into the random bookbox

I’m taking out a few crime/mysteries/thrillers as there were 5 in the box and there’s not supposed to be more than one of any genre. I’ll release this one on a tube station bookshelf with a high turnover.

Going into a Little Free Library which was looking a bit empty last time I passed it.