After a cloak and dagger exchange with an ageing Mafioso, Inspector Montalbano is left haunted by the man's dying words, which lead him to a mountainside just west of Vigata where he unearths two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terracotta dog.

Heedless of personal danger, Montalbano's drive to solve this old crime forces him on a journey through Sicily's World War II history and to the dark heart of one family...

The Terracotta Dog is followed by the third title in this satirical series, The Snack Thief.