In Inspector Montalbano’s coastal town of Vigata, a surge of migrants have been coming in by boat and all the town’s hands are on deck to help the arrivals. At the heart of the scene are the police - on the lookout for the people smugglers responsible - and long nightshifts are rendering Inspector Montalbano and his officers exhausted.

Then one night, while Montalbano is enduring yet another gruelling stint at the port, a separate crime is committed - unexplained, unexpected and unpleasant. Elena, the dressmaker at the town’s famous tailors, has been found dead - slaughtered by her own scissors …

As a swell of desperate people arrive in search of a better life, Inspector Montalbano finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the dressmaker. But as he makes his enquiries, the Inspector can’t help but wonder: what will happen if he keeps tugging on this thread? And what will he find at the end of the line?