August Heat

If an insect infestation isn’t enough to turn the holiday into a fiasco, the body found in a concealed basement apartment does the trick nicely, leaving Montalbano on the outs with Livia and forced to contend with a six-year-old murder. As the inspector endures the August heat (often by sitting in his office in his underwear), he faces an even more formidable obstacle: his overwhelming attraction to the victim’s stunning twin sister. Montalbano’s various weaknesses lead directly to the troubling finale, leaving him forced to, yes, strip off his clothes one more time and dive into the sea, hoping to swim away his regrets. Combine the movies Body Heat and The Seven-Year Itch, blending the noir of the former with the farce of the latter, and you have something like this beguiling tragicomedy.