Sure, he didn't feel like hearing Catarella's voice reporting the daily murder, but was that any way for a hand to behave?
-- Narrator (chapter 1 paragraph 18)

Importance: The quote illustrates how Montalbano is aware of the times he loses control or shows contempt. Just because he knows he should not do something, it does not mean that he will not go ahead and do it.

Whoever did it must not have had much trouble opening it; a hairpin would have done the trick.
-- Narrator (chapter 2 paragraph 183)

Importance: The quote indicates the ease with which the safe could have been opened at the burglary site, causing Montalbano to question what really happened.

The Honorable Mongibello, formerly of the Liberal Party, then the Christian Democratic Party, and then, after some time off, elected to Parliament in the last elections as a deputy for the majority party, the one trying to force Italy into a straightjacket, had long been, and still was...
-- Narrator (chapter 3 paragraph 114)