EL HOMBRE DEL PUERTO

A mysterious murder masterfully intertwined with Vanina’s own trials and tribulations. Vincenzo La Barbera, a high school philosophy teacher, was a solitary man, yet deeply loved by his students, who lived on an old sailboat moored in the harbor. He had no debts, nor any ties to the mafia. Yet someone killed him and left his body in the bed of the Amenano, a river that centuries ago was covered in lava following an eruption of Mount Etna and now flows beneath the city’s historic center. Vanina Garrasi — whose already difficult life has become even more complicated due to death threats from the Palermo mafia — takes the reins of the investigation. Not a single clue. The murder seems quite complex and may have its roots in the victim’s rebellious past. To solve it, however, Vanina will once again be able to count on the help of the incomparable retired police commissioner Biagio Patanè. “The new Camilleri is the Sicilian Cristina Cassar Scalia.” Xavi Ayén, La Vanguardia