Salvo Montalbano, the police chief (commissario) of Vigàta, a fictional town in the fictional province of Montelusa, Sicily, is a gruff character who is responsible and serious at work, but often also open and friendly with people he knows he can trust. Montalbano must investigate various criminal acts in his area which, thanks to his intelligence and the help of numerous assistants, even outside the police, he always manages to solve by reconstructing the exact events.