The plot begins with a classic Montalbano misunderstanding: a 5 AM "wrong number" phone call from a man named Riccardino, who believes he is speaking to a friend about a meeting. Shortly after, Montalbano is called to investigate a murder outside the Bar Aurora; the victim is Riccardo "Riccardino" Lopresti, the same man who called him. What follows is a typical investigation into a "fetid brew" of adultery, political graft, and local corruption, involving familiar figures like the local bishop and the Mafia. Metafiction and the "Author"

The defining characteristic of Riccardino is its bold shift into metafiction. For the first time, Camilleri introduces as a character who actively bickers with Montalbano. Go to product viewer dialog for this item. Riccardino

Riccardino : A Metafictional Farewell to Inspector Montalbano

Riccardino , published posthumously in 2020 (Italy) and 2021 (US), serves as the 28th and definitive conclusion to Andrea Camilleri’s legendary Inspector Montalbano series. Written in 2005 when Camilleri was eighty and revised slightly in 2016, the novel was intentionally "locked in a drawer" with instructions to be released only after the author's death. The Final Investigation