Salvo Montalbano is the police commissioner of Vigàta, a gruff character who is responsible and serious at work, but often also open and friendly with people he knows he can trust. Montalbano finds he must investigate various criminal acts in his area, for which - thanks to his great intelligence and the help of numerous assistants, even outside the police - he always manages to reconstruct the exact events and to find a solution. Among his colleagues are his deputy, Mimi Augello, inspector Giuseppe Fazio, the awkward policeman, Agatino Catarella and other officers of the police station. Otherwise, among his external collaborators are his friend Ingrid Sjostrom, the journalist Niccolò Zito and, more rarely, Adelina his cook. In his private life, Salvo carries on a long-distance relationship with Livia Burlando, with whom he has a sometimes tempestuous relationship, but in which love always prevails.