Livia convinces Salvo to take a seven-day vacation with her in Provence. Just as they're about to depart, Vigata is shaken by a murder and the ritualistic killing of some animals, all occurring on the same day at dawn.

A promotion brings young Detective Salvo Montalbano from a small mountain village to the city of Vigata. There he finds himself supervising a group of agents that include Carmine Fazio, many years his senior, and quirky Sicilian Catarella.

Montalbano investigates the case of a retired, well-respected doctor who was found murdered in his own home. The case causes Montalbano to consider his own dilemmas about the complexity of love.

A fire at a local hotel results in a man's death and is suspected to have been arson. Montalbano has a hunch, however, that it wasn't so simple.

A man respected by all, who for years has shown up as a mourner at the funerals of strangers, is found brutally murdered in the street.

Strange anonymous letters addressed to Montalbano keep arriving at the police station in connection with local workers' deaths.