While browsing through the mystery section at an English-language bookstore in Rome a few years ago, a fellow customer asked me if I had ever read Andrea Camilleri. "He's the Italian John Grisham!" she said. That was a recommendation I couldn't ignore so I picked up THE TERRA-COTTA DOG, which I could see dealt with the Mafia, one of my all time favorite topics. I read the book and enjoyed it very much, but I have to say the woman was a bit off in her comparison to Grisham. Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano is a bit more like Lee Goldberg's Mr. Monk--a cranky, idiosyncratic, but brilliant sleuth. He's a lot of fun to follow, and Camilleri's depiction of Sicilian society delights and surprises.