It occurred to him that he might not have had anything to do with Strangio's death. It was a voice in the night, an anonymous voice, that had told him this. A voice in the night that could easily have been the voice of his conscience. Feeling his age, as his birthday rolls round once again, Inspector Montalbano decides to cheer himself up by dealing with a young driver's road rage in his own unique way. But his joy is short-lived, as at police headquarters...

An elderly man is found dead in the dining room of his Vigatan beach house; his coffee spilt across the table, a gunshot wound through the back of his head. The son who discovered the body has the most to gain from his father's untimely death, and his sister is quick to point out the reasons why. But as Montalbano learns more about the victim's dishonourable life, he soon finds half of Vigata has a motive for the murder.