The Chief Inspector Salvo Montalbano’s fictional town of Vigàta has been turned upside down by an international movie crew filming in the Sicilian town; however, neither of the two mysteries in this, the 25th novel in this exceptional series, has anything to do with that.

Montalbano finds himself looking into two very different events: a set of six ancient home movies filmed in the late 1950s and early 1960s by a long-dead man and the appearance of two gun-toting men in a classroom of 13-year-old boys. To give away much more or to reveal the meaning of the title would be to spoil the fun. Let’s just say there are memories and remorse aplenty mixed up with the mysteries. And now that author Andrea Camillieri is dead, every Montalbano novel — like the exquisite treats they are — must be savored without anyone spoiling this delightful morsel.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Penguin Books in exchange for an honest review.

RIP Andrea Camilleri.

A lovely Italian mystery in which the Inspector meditates on different manifestations of protection, the changing world, social media, etc. Will most likely appeal more to people over 40. Having not read him before, I liked his style, though his treatment of female characters definitely left wishing for more. I also didn't feel attached to any of the recurring characters - maybe I need to read the rest of the novels to really get a feel of who they are. The ending, however, was quite strong and made me tear up.

The two unrelated mysteries, one about a 50 year old suicide and one about a school shooting, were quite intriguing. The school shooting one was a bit unbelievable, but I genuinely enjoyed the other one. Overall, the book was decent, but I couldn't help comparing him to Alexander McCall Smith, whom I prefer. I think it will be quite worth the read for the fans of this type of softer, gentler mysteries though.