Three weeks ago, I got a call from the National Book Council. They informed me that the National Book Prize would be awarded on December 18 and the book I co-wrote with Carlo Bonini and John Sweeney, Murder on the Malta Express: Who Killed Daphne Caruana Galizia (Midsea Books), would be awarded the prize. I confess I was pleased. This is the first book with my name on it and it will surprise few people to learn that my bruised ego enjoys a cuddle from time to time. I was also a little surprised. The executive chairman of the National Book Council and I do not run a mutual admiration society and, in any case, all government agencies or entities have stayed as far away from Daphne’s story as they could manage.