Inspector Montalbano wakes one morning, steps out onto his balcony overlooking the Sicilian ocean, and...sees a dead horse on the beach, which has been beaten to death. He sets about trying to discover the murderer, even though clearly it's not his jurisdiction (even though it's his house). Politics, intrigues, the Mafia, Sicilian food, smartass comments galore.

So a note. Most detective have this tendency to pull off some elaborate hoax at the close of the book in order to get someone to confess. But Montalbano is the real deal. He doesn't just pull this crap at the end of the book. No, he screws with people constantly. So when it comes up at the end of a Montalbano story, you're like, "Eh, it's in character."

As another reviewer said, "A 'meh' Montalbano is better than most other authors' best books." This wasn't my favorite, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.