Series Title: Inspector Montelbano
Series: 15
Episodes: 37
Channel: RAI Television – The Inspector Montalbano series has been translated into thirty-two languages and was adapted for Italian television and screened on BBC4
Screened: 1999
Main cast: Luca Zingaretti stars as Commissario Salvo Montalbano
Note: The series is rejuvenated with Young Montelbano played by Michele Riondino, and as compelling as the original series. Well worth getting in to.
Young Montelbano
(01) S1 E1 — The Snack Thief
The series starts with Inspector Montelbano having a morning swim in the sea in front of his house in Vigata. He arrives at the station in a bad mood, shouting at everyone. A businessman called Lapecora is found in a lift with a knife in his back and his widow suspects his lover, a Tunisian woman called Karima who has departed Vigata that day.
Montalbano tracks Karima’s young son Francois and suspects the case is linked to a Tunisian man that was also killed on the same day as Lapecora. Montelbano’s partner Livia looks after the boy and becomes fond of the five year old. Then another Tunisian woman Aisha is killed.
6 May 1999 105m
(02) S1E2 — The Voice of the Violin
Napping on the way to a funeral outside Vigata, the driver crashes the car near a seemingly abandoned villa. Montelbano returns to the property alone to look around and finds a dead naked woman on a table. When the case is taken off him, Montelbano suspects a cover up and quietly continues the investigation with his team. He connects a priceless violin with the murdered woman and the motive for her death.
13 May 1999 105m
(03) S2E1 — The Shape of Water
A politician Mr Luparello is found dead in a compromising position with a suspected heart attack. Montalbano suspects things are not as they seem and starts digging, looking at the dead man’s political and religious side and investigating a necklace found at the scene.
2 May 2000
(04) S2 E2 — The Terracotta Dog
A mafia boss informs Montelbano about a stash of arms in a cave just outside of Vigata. The cave is also the tomb of a young couple and what appears to be a crime from the end of World War II. First he must confront the mafia.
The bodies appear to have been placed in the cave with some sort of ritual, coins in a dish, and a terracotta dog placed besides them before the chamber was sealed. Montelbano sets out to discover how they died and who ceremonially entombed them.
9 May 2000
(05) S3 E1 — A Trip to Tindari
A coach trip by an elderly couple to the ancient city of Tindari, closely followed by a car, is the central part of this episode and the final part of a cover up. When a young man is found dead at the same house as the elderly couple, Montelbano discovers a deeper connection and ends up first meeting a mafioso and then masquerading as one to frighten a confession out of a rougue doctor.
9 May 2001 115m
(06) S3 E2 — The Artist’s Touch
It appears a goldsmith rigged his own wheelchair into a suicidal electric chair. Questions arise when it’s revealed that his will, which promised everything to his brother, is a forged document. The dead man’s brother, Giacomo, is left everything in the forged will so he is arrested, but he maintains that he did not kill Alberto. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector Mimi’ Augello is working on the case of a mysteriously murdered electrician.
16 May 2001
(07) S4 E1 — The Sense of Touch
Salvo is called to the scene of a dead blind man and finds himself taking responsibility for his guide dog. Once the investigation determines that the man was murdered, a course of events lead Salvo to deceive ‘Livia into taking a weekend to visit the man’s sister and finding that they are in debt with loan sharks. It is later determined that the murdered man left his substantial savings to his sister – but where did the money come from?
28 Oct 2002
(08) S4 E2 — Rice Croquettes
As the small town of Vigata prepares for its New Year celebrations, Montalbano is reluctantly making arrangements to travel to Paris with his girlfriend. A wealthy husband and wife are found dead in what appears to be a car accident but quickly turns in to a murder investigation. As the investigation progresses it becomes clearer that the boy Pasquale is involved.
4 Nov 2002, 93m
(09) S4 E3 — The Scent of the Night
Investor Emanuele Gargano has disappeared with the savings entrusted to him by the people of Montelusa. Montalbano’s investigation brings him into contact with some of Gargano’s staff – his obsessively loyal secretary Mariastella Cosentino and the provocative Michela Manganaro. Meanwhile, Augello is getting cold feet about the prospect of his wedding.
11 Nov 2002, 109m
(10) S4 E4 — The Cat and the Goldfinch
A series of muggings ends in tragedy when one of the victims is killed. Meanwhile a man destroys the emergency room at the hospital after finding out that his young daughter is pregnant. A local doctor is also missing and presumed dead. Montalbano investigates all three cases, gradually uncovering the links between them.
18 Nov 2002, 95m
(11) S5 E1 — Turning Point
Det Salvo Montalbano is discouraged by corruption with the force and has thoughts of leaving the service until Mimi talks to him. Montelbano finds a body during his customary morning swim. The investigation leads to international child trafficking.
18 Nov 2002, 95m
(12) S5 E2 — Equal Time
When a man is found murdered with a sawn-off shotgun and a young woman goes missing, and a mafia war ensues. Montelbano Mimi and Beba prepare for a christening but Montelbano is taken off the case and assigned to investigate the disappearance of the young woman, and gradually uncovers a series of links between the two cases.
29 Sep 2005, 96m
(13) S6 E1 — The Patience of the Spider
Montalbano investigates the kidnapping of a young girl Susanna Mistretta, whose once wealthy family has fallen on hard times. Coming up with the money falls on a relative but Montelbano finds that something about the case doesn’t add up.
29 Sep 2005, 96m
(14) S6 E2 — The Game of Three Cards
Find the Lady – The death of the elderly Cascio has been written off as an accident. It seems Montalbano’s deputy was more concerned with staking out the attractive wife of a criminal on the run, so Montelbano investigates himself when a friend of Cascio’s provides some suspicious details. Might the release of Pennisi, Cascio’s one-time employer, from prison be connected? And was Pennisi really guilty of murdering his lover’s husband?
7 Mar 2006, 106m
(15) S7 E1 — August Flame
Montalbano finds Mimi’s missing boy who has fallen into a cellar beneath Mimi’s family home . A wooden chest is found with the body of a young girl who was murdered six years earlier.
13 Mar 2006, 99m
(16) S7 E2 — The Wings of the Sphynx
A woman’s body has been found on a beach near Vigata, shot in the face, her identity is unknown. The only clue is a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder. Montalbano tries to establish the identity.
3 Nov 2008, 110m
(17) S7 E3 — The Track of Sand
Montalbano wakes up one morning to find the carcass of a dead horse stranded on the beach below his house. Soon after, a beautiful woman walks into Vigata police station to report the abduction of her racehorse. A line of investigation emerges that brings Montalbano into contact with the elegant world of horse racing, via some illegal horse betting rackets organised by the Mafia.
10 Nov 2008, 100m
(18) S7 E4 — Paper Moon
A distressed woman arrives at Vigata police station to report the disappearance of her brother. Soon enough, the man is found murdered in what appears to have been a crime of passion. But Montalbano is reluctant to give too much credit to appearances and digs into the victim’s past, talking to anyone who might have had an involvement in the case. Meanwhile, a number of high-profile businessmen and politicians die as a result of cocaine overdoses.
17 Nov 2008, 109m
(19) S8 E1 — The Potter’s Field
As torrential rain pours down on Vigata, a plastic bag containing a body cut into pieces is found in a clay field. All the signs point to an old-fashioned Mafia killing. But why is Montalbano’s trusted colleague and friend Mimi Augello suddenly irritable and short-tempered, and why is he insisting that the investigation be assigned to him? Could Mimi somehow be involved in the case?
14 Mar 2011, 109m
(20) S8 E2 — The Gull’s Dance
Fazio is missing. He’s not at home, his mobile is switched off and his father is worried. Believing that the young officer had been working a secret investigation on his own, Montalbano fears that Fazio may be in serious trouble and a frantic search is mounted in an effort to find him alive.
21 Mar 2011, 112m
(21) S8 E3 — Treasure Hunt
An elderly couple, both religious fanatics, barricade themselves in their home and begin shooting from the windows for no apparent reason, until Montalbano’s men finally succeed in disarming them.
There seems to be no justification for the couple’s insane actions, but police find a strangely disfigured inflatable doll inside their home. A few days later, an identical doll is discovered in a rubbish bin.
A series of clues arrives to Montelbano with riddles. A disturbed maniac is playing a game of treasure hunt with Montelbano which needs to be solved in time.
28 Mar 2011, 99m
(22) S8 E4 — The Age of Doubt
The yacht of a wealthy woman docks at Vigata’s harbour as a disfigured body is discovered at sea. Coastguard Laura Belladonna is assigned to the case to assist Montalbano and the two soon become close. The investigation casts doubts on the motives and sincerity of the yacht’s crew and Montalbano begins to suspect that there may be more to the story they have given him.
4 April 2011, 103m
(23) S9 E1 — Angelica’s Smile
A series of robberies take place at the houses of wealthy Vigata residents. Montalbano finds himself attracted to a young bank manager called Angelica. Montalbano suspects the burglaries might be a cover for something more sinister.
Oct 2013, 112m
(24) S9 E2 — Hall of Mirrors
A bomb goes off outside an empty store-room in a quiet Vigata street. Montalbano commences his investigation, but is soon disorientated by a series of disparate events, including the acquaintance of an attractive and mysterious woman.
26 Oct 2013, 113m
(25) S9 E3 — A Voice in the Night
A supermarket controlled by a Mafia family is robbed, setting off a chain of events in which the Mafia’s political links start to transpire. Montalbano finds himself having to conduct his investigation using even more unconventional methods and this time he does something he’s never done before.
2 Nov 2013, 106m
(26) S9 E4 — A Ray of Light
A woman is attacked and robbed on her way home late at night, but the case leaves Montalbano wondering whether there isn’t more to the story than he’s being told. An abandoned cattle shed in the countryside has been boarded up by unknowns and used for mysterious purposes.
A Ray of Light, 106m
(27) S10 E1 — A Delicate Matter
Montalbano must cut short his holiday with Livia when a sixty seven year old prostitute is murdered in Vigata.
29 Feb 2016, 117m
(28) S10 E2 — The Mud Pyramid
A man’s body is found inside an industrial pipe on a building site. Montalbano and Fazio manage to identify the victim and try to contact his missing wife. Meanwhile, journalist Lucia Gambardella reaches out to Montalbano with information on a local corruption ring involving fraudulent building contracts.
7 Mar 2016, 105m
(29) S11 E1 — A Nest of Vipers
Businessman Cosimo Barletta is found dead in his holiday home, with a gunshot to the head. Montalbano’s investigation reveals a series of unexpected facts about the man’s life and death – starting with the discovery of an archive of photographs of young women and continuing with the autopsy results, which indicate there might have been more to the man’s killing than had initially met the eye. Salvo meets with Barletta’s disowned son Arturo, and is helped in his investigation by Arturo’s mysterious sister, Giovanna.
27 Feb 2017, 120m
(30) S11 E2 — As per Procedure
A young woman is found dead and naked in the foyer of an apartment block, her body showing signs of what can only have been a brutal and sexually motivated murder. Montalbano sets out to investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death, but every one of the block’s inhabitants claims to never have met her before. Someone must be lying.
6 Mar 2017, 113m
(31) S12 E1 — Carousel
A local shop is burned down in a clear case of arson. Its owner seems to have disappeared into thin air. Montalbano investigates, but is also kept busy by multiple reports of strange kidnappings in which female victims are abducted and released unharmed shortly after, with all of their possessions untouched and for no apparent reason.
12 Feb 2018, 111m
(32) S12 E2 — Amore
A notorious beautiful girl disappears shortly after having been seen returning to Vigata. She worked as a prostitute but appears to have been financially secure of late due to a fortunate liaison with one of her clients. Montelbano visits her family to find a distraught father and sister and a not so sympathetic mother, disgusted at her way of life. The sister tells Montelbano that her sister had recently fallen in love.
19 Feb 2018
(33) S13 E1 — The Other End of the Line
Livia sends Montalbano to a seamstress to have a new suit made for an upcoming event. Montalbano likes the seamstress but before he can pick up his new suit, she is murdered and there are very few clues. Montalbano must uncover the secrets behind the victim’s life to get to the truth.
11 Feb 2019, 104m
(34) S13 E2 — A Diary of ’43
When an old man is shot in his home Montelbano connects it somehow to the discovery of a hidden diary from 1943 which Mimi has passed to him, concerned about the contents which suggests a crime was committed many years ago.
Livia too takes an interest in the diary, and a 90 year old man returned to Sicily who offers insight to the diary contents. Vigata is celebrating the fiesta of St George’s Day.
18 Feb 2019
(35) S14 E1 — Beloved Salvo, My Livia
A night watchman travels the streets on the outskirts of Vigàta until, stopping in front of the gate of a villa, he realises that the lock has been forced open. Later, the young son of Adelina, the housekeeper of Commissioner Montalbano, is arrested, who immediately professes himself innocent. A woman is brutally killed with a hammer.
9 Mar 2020
(36) S14 E2 — The Safety Net
Vigata is the new filming location for a Swedish television series set in 1850 that tells of a ship from their country that landed in Sicily. During the filming the director asks the locals to track down vintage media to faithfully recreate the air of Vigata at that time. Engineer Ernesto Sabatello, rummaging in the attic of his house, discovers some revealing super-8 films shot by his father between 1958 and 1963.
16 Mar 2020
(37) S15 E1 — The Catalanotti Method
Inspector Montalbano investigates the murder of a charismatic amateur dramatics artist.
2020