Review of The Terracotta Dog

This episode opens with Montalbano and his team raiding the hide out of Tano U Greco, an elderly Mafia boss who has been a fugitive for years; it turns out the old man had approached the inspector requesting to be arrested; the younger generation were clearing out the old guard and he feared for his life but didn't want to be seen turning himself in. The plan doesn't go to well as news of his arrest is leaked and the cars transporting him to Palermo are ambushed. He is mortally wounded but is able to tell Montalbano about a cave that has been used to hide contraband since the war. Inside the cave they find an arsenal; that isn't all though; Montalbano also finds two dead bodies and a statue of a dog; they have clearly been there a long time but who are they, who killed them and why were they left in the cave like that? While still investigating the weaponry Montalbano finds time to investigate this very old crime.

This was yet another fine episode in the series; Luca Zingaretti is brilliant in the role of Montalbano; very funny without being a comic character. The story this week was interesting; I liked how what was an investigation into the Mafia changed into a murder case where it would be unlikely that anybody would be alive to bring to justice; the inspector just wanted to know the truth. It wasn't all asking questions and searching caves though; there were some tense moments too; none more so than when Montalbano had to return fire when ambushed by a couple of rifle wielding assassins! If you've enjoyed previous episodes I'm sure you will enjoy this one.