One of the aspects that differentiates MONTALBANO from other detective dramas is its Italianness - specifically, its use of Sicilian locations, its mountain and seaside scenery, and its attention to detail: we see our eponymous hero (Luca Zingaretti) regularly dining in his favorite restaurant, sampling the pasts and supping the occasional glass of wine.
In this episode, director Alberto Sironi sets the action on a series of hot August days: the police station is stiflingly hot, prompting everyone to try and find ways of cooling down. Montalbano buys a cheap fan from an African immigrant, while Catarella (Angelo Russo) takes his jacket off (for once) and uses a ladies' fan to provide some much-needed relief. In this kind of hothouse atmosphere, passions are bound to run at a high level; and so it proves, as Montalbano has a fling with beautiful student Adriana Morreale (Serena Rossi), as he tries to find out what happened to her twin sister, who was murdered several years previously. Sironi stages some memorable nocturnal sequences, as the two of them go for a dip in the sea, and embrace one another while the waves crash on to the seashore in the background.
As with most summer love-affairs, however, this one fizzles out, as Montalbano discovers to his cost that Adriana has completely duped him. Even the most morally upright police officers are prone to mistakes at some time. While the murder is eventually solved, we empathize with Motalbano's dissatisfaction; not only has he lost the love of his life, but he is left alone at the end to sit on the veranda of his luxuriously appointed seaside villa, staring at the sea and wondering what might have been.