The Patience of the Spider

The Patience of the Spider is the eighth novel in Andrea Camilleri's wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.
'A brother,' he said.
Jesus Christ! Now where'd this brother come from? Whose brother? Montalbano had known from the start that between all the brothers, uncles, in-laws, nephews and nieces, this case was going to drive him crazy.
Chief Inspector Montalbano is on enforced sick leave. But when a local girl goes mysteriously missing, the whole community takes an interest in the case. Why are the kidnappers so sure that the girl's impoverished father and dying mother will be able to find a fortune? The ever-inquisitive Montalbano steps in, to get to the heart of the matter in his own inimitable style.
The Patience of the Spider is followed by the ninth novel in the series, Paper Moon.
PRAISE FOR THE SERIES
"A magnificent series of novels" Sunday Times
"There's a deliciously playful quality to the mysteries Andrea Camilleri writes about a lusty Sicilian police detective named Salvo Montalbano." New York Times Book Review
"Camilleri as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator." The Washington Post
"The books are full of sharp, precise characterizations and with subplots that make Montalbano endearingly human ... Like the antipasti that Montalbano contentedly consumes, the stories are light and easily consumed, leaving one eager for the next course." New York Journal of Books
"This series is distinguished by Camilleri's remarkable feel for tragicomedy, expertly mixing light and dark in the course of producing novels that are both comforting and disturbing." Booklist