Amanda was abandoned by her mother when she was only seven and was raised by her father.

Many years later, Amanda finds her mother and asks her the question she's been asking all her life: Why did you leave me?

But Amanda's mother is Emma and Emma, had murdered two men. The same two men who in 1976 had posed for a photo with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, on his state visit to Malta. Emma tells this to Amanda, this and many other strange, improbable things, then she vanishes. Again.

This is Clare Azzopardi's first adult novel - Castillo, published by Merlin Publishers.

Azzopardi is a highly acclaimed author, a favourite of both the critics and the public. Her children's books and her anthologies for adults invariably top the bestseller lists. She has repeatedly won the National Book Prize and is one of the few Maltese authors whose work is translated, published and sold in various countries.

In this first novel, she paints a picture of motherhood, or the lack of it, and consciously sets it in a backdrop of the 1980s.

"I feel not enough has been written about Malta in the 80s," says Azzopardi, referring to the turbulent political times and the ongoings at the Malta Police Force. Her central character is, in fact, Inspector Dennis Castillo, who heads murder investigations. He is renowned for relentlessly compiling evidence and closing cases - until, one day someone tries to kill one of his officers.

"At times I feel that as nation we avoid the truth about that time and we're happy to keep on playing the red and blue game, as long as we're always draw. 'You killed that one, we killed this one, so we're draw and we don't need to get to the bottom of things'," says the author, pointing out that the 80s are always narrated from totally different angles, according to your political colour.

The novel, which is a study of a daughter's obsession with the truth; her mother's obsession with her writer sister Kathy, killed in a car bomb; and the neighbours' obsession with gossip, provided the perfect background for Azzopardi to tackle this period seriously, but with a fictional twist.

Castillo was launched at Undercroft Café in Valletta, where the author was interviewed by columnist Claire Bonello and extracts of the book were read out by veteran author Ġorġ Peresso and theatre director Marcelle Teuma.

A special limited edition of 40 signed copies, hand-bound by Kotba Calleja were on sale, and sold out, that same evening.

Castillo is available for sale from all leading outlets or directly online from merlinpublishers.com