The Track of Sand

The Track of Sand (2007/2010) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli

This is another story that is not a particular favorite. Montalbano and Livia are still fighting (of course), but the book opens with a really horrible scene, the discovery of a dead horse by Montalbano. A horse that has been beaten to death. This death deeply disturbs Montalbano, but it ALSO deeply disturbed me. The torture of children and animals is–quite simply–deeply distressing.

Montalbano also continues to be weaker than I expect–or perhaps want–him to be.

I do like that not only does he name check three Swedish authors, we also get something completely different:

After eating and eating, at a certain point he realized a wafer-thin mint would have been enough to make him explode, like that character in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, a film he had found very funny.

We do get a few reprieves of the darkness, with Catarella. This book has another conversation between Montalbano and Catarella that has remained in my head.

“Ah Chief, Chief! Iss Catarella!”
The inspector felt like screwing around.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” he said, altering his voice.
“Iss Catarella, Chief!”
“This is Fire Station Number 2373. If you want to speak with the fire chief, you’ll have to call the fire department, during regular hours, of course.”
“O matre santa! I mussa gotta wrong number. Beckin’ y’ pardon, sir.”
He called right back.
“Hallo! Izz ‘iss Fire Station 3723?”
“No, Cat. It’s Montalbano. Wait just a second, Ill look up the first stations number for you.”
“No no no, Chief, I don’t want no fire station!”
“So why are you trying to phone them?”
“I dunno. Sorry, Chief, I’m confised. Wanna hang up so’s I can start all over again?”
“All right.”
He rang a third time.

I’m really really glad that Montalbano and the rest of the men are fond of Catarella, otherwise I’d feel bad about enjoying those passages.
Rating: 7/10

Published by Penguin

 
 

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