A Beam of Light (2012/2015) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The problem with the “surprise” in this book is that it refers to events that happened early in the series, and since that character hadn’t been referred to in years, having him brought up again (when he hadn’t been for ages) made it pretty […]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2005/2008) Stieg Larsson translated by Reg Keeland I read this the summer I broke my ankle. Because of that, much of my memory of it was fuzzy, both because I read a lot that summer and because I was taking a lot of pain killers. So I figured I […]
The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Obviously, Camilleri didn’t stop after the second book, so we have the third in the series, which finds Montalbano investigating the stabbing death of an elderly man, while elsewhere, a fisherman is shot to death in a typically international incident with Tunisia. Yes, the title […]
The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2004) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The second Montalbano book was, according the Camilleri, was supposed to be the last. I felt less than fully satisfied with how the figure of Montalbano had come out. I felt as if I had painted an incomplete portrait of him, favoring his role as […]
The Shape of Water (1994/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is the first Inspector Montalbano story, and was supposed to be the only Montalbano story, however, the character got away from the author, and we now have many books to enjoy. “Inspector Montalbano? This is Mr. Luparello.” “What the hell! Didn’t you die?” […]
Game of Mirrors (2011/2015) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I really enjoy these books. Inspector Montalbano is continuing to age, and continues to worry that he’s losing it (what “it” is, varies from book to book), which I am okay with, because it adds another dimension to his character. He still lives for food. […]
The Fourth Secret (2002/2014) Andrea Camilleri translated by Gianluca Rizzo and Dominic Siracusa These are not the usual translators for this series, and they were nowhere near as good as his usual translators. First, there were multiple errors (in this short novella), and second, Catarella’s voice is very different here than in the books, which […]
The Troubled Man (2009/2011) Henning Mankell translated by Laurie Thompson I’ve been in a mood lately where I don’t know what I want to read. I have several new releases I have been waiting for, but they just don’t appeal to me for some unknown reason. So I randomly chose The Troubled Man because I […]
Outrage (2008/2011) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Anna Yates This is not Inspector Erlendur. Erlendur has taken a leave of absence, and no one knows where he is. Instead, the detective is Elínborg, a female detective who works with Erlendur. Because of crime–the murder of a rapist–Elínborg was a much better main character, since one would […]
Hypothermia (2007/2009) Arnaldur Indridson translated by Victoria Cribb Inspector Erlendur is given a suicide to clear—a woman who had been devastated by the death of her mother, and had a life–long obsession with death and any possible afterlife is found hanging in her summer home. Although there is no note, it is a fairly clear […]
Angelica’s Smile (2010/2014) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli “Ah Chief, Chief! Ahh Chief!” Catarella’s cry pretty much describes how I feel about this book. Ah Chief, how you’ve fallen. A strange series of burglaries has hit Vitaga. Burgulars break into a vacation home, gas the couple sleeping there, then, stealing the keys, return to […]
Arctic Chill (2005/2009) Arnaldur Indriðason and translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb This is, I believe, the fifth book in the detective Erlendur series, and I continue to like Erlendur and enjoy spending time with him despite myself. Erlendur is a broken and often not very nice man, and there are many reasons to […]
The Draining Lake (2004/2007) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Lake Kleifarvatn is draining, and no one is quite sure why, but what they do know is that as it drains, things are being uncovered. In this case, one of the scientists discovers the body of a man who obviously had been killed and his […]
The Indian Bride (2001/2005) Karin Fossum translated by Charlotte Barslund This is another Inspector Sejer mystery, and I’ve found these books to be very hit or miss as to whether I enjoyed them. Luckily, this one was a hit. Gunder Jomann has spent his life alone, with few friends except for his sister Marie. An […]
Last Watch (/2010) by Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield and narrated by Paul Michael This is the last book I have read in the Night Watch series, although there is a fifth book, New Watch, which I can pre-order. It looks like it had been released once in the US, but it must have […]
The Investigation (1959/1974) Stanislaw Lem translated by Adele Milch This is a good book, however, it’s not what I was expecting or wanting when I started reading, so I didn’t like it. Let me explain. It’s supposed to be a British detective story (written in 1959, so it was modern when it was written, but […]
The Dance of the Seagull (2009/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Alas, I’m now back to current on the Inspector Montalbano series, and I have no idea what I want to read next. The story opens with Montalbano seeing a seagull dive to the ground, do a strange dance, and then die on the […]
The Age of Doubt (2008/2012) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli On this second reading, I really didn’t like this story. The mystery was fine, but I knew what was coming, and I just kept getting madder and madder at Montalbano, not wanting him to make the mistakes I knew he was going to make. […]
The Potter’s Field (2008/2011) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This might be one of my favorite mysteries in this series. A dismembered body is found in clay fields, the face beaten so as to hinder identification. A beautiful woman comes to the station, to report that she believes her husband may be missing. Mimi […]
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 […]
August Heat (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is not my favorite Montalbano story. This is the book where the relationship between Montalbano and Livia starts to fall apart. (It continues to fall apart for the rest of the series so far.) We also see Montalbano behaving in ways he’d avoided in the […]
The Wings of the Sphinx (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Somehow, I managed to read this book and the one that comes before it out of order. Which was unusually problematic because events in the previous book–events involving Montalbano and Livia–had a tremendous influence upon events in this book. I remembered what they […]
The Paper Moon (2005/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The story opens with a woman–concerned that she has not heard from her brother–coming to report him missing. It hasn’t been long enough to declare him officially missing, but she convinces Montalbano to come with her, to see what signs are at his apartment. “Aahh, […]
The Patience of the Spider (2004/2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This book picks up right after the events of Rounding the Mark. Monalbano has been on leave, recovering from being shot in the shoulder. Livia has come down to stay with him during his recover, so they get to argue in person, instead […]
Rounding the Mark (2003/2006) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli It finally happened. The corruption of the Italian government and system has finally gotten to Montalbano, and he has decided he no longer wants to work in such a system. But his morning swim changes everything, when he (literally) runs into a corpse. The first […]
The Smell of the Night (2001/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Ah, Chief! Chief! This is the book where Catarella truly takes on the personality he has for the rest of the series. It always amuses me how so much of what he says ends up sounding like gibberish. And it’s all good and […]
Excursion to Tindari (2000/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli All murder mysteries are, at their heart, depressing. They tell the tale of how someone decided that the life of another human was disposable, and then act to snuff out that life. But the heart of this story feels even more depressing, somehow. Despite the […]
Voice of the Violin (1997/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This story is a turning point for Catarella. “(I)n a few days, some absolutely up-to-date computer will be arriving… He wanted each of us to give him the name of an officer we thought had a special knack for computer science. Which I did.” […]
The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is the third Inspector Montalbano book. In the same morning, there is a shooting death aboard a fishing boat and a man found dead in the elevator in his apartment. (This is Sicily, after all.) Catarella plays a larger part in this book, though […]
The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I was out of sorts yesterday and didn’t know what I wanted to read. Since I recently read Montalbano’s First Case, I decided I wanted to read some Andrea Camilleri–despite the fact that the first book in the series was loaned out to someone and […]
Montalbano’s First Case (2004/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Gianluca Rizzo and Dominic Siracusa I love Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Salvo Montalbano… well, let me clarify. I find him fascinating, but in person I think he could be unbearable if you irritated him. Which I most likely would. But I love reading about him. This is the […]
The Fifth Woman (1996/2000) Henning Mankell translated by Steven T. Murray This is the first Kurt Wallander I’ve read, and I wonder how I’ve gone so long without reading him before. This is almost the definition of police procedural, and what we see is something that looks like what we’d actually see in a police […]
Day Watch (2006/2010) Sergei Lukyanenko and narrated by Paul Michael This is a review of the audio version of Day Watch, you can read my review of the story here. I’ve gotten used to the narration, where the read speaks in a regular American accent when he reads the descriptions and thoughts of the characters, […]
When the Devil Holds the Candle (1998/2004) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David I just did NOT like this book. I ended up skimming, to find out what happened so I could move it. The story jumps back and forth in time and from point-of-view, from the woman who is the killer to the victim, […]
Voices (2003/2006) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder There has been a murder in one of the fancy hotels. A particularly nasty murder, with a man in a Santa suit, in a compromising position, stabbed to death. Inspector Erlendur and the rest of the police have been called in, but nothing is at it seems, […]
Silence of the Grave (2002/2005) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder This is the second book I’ve read by Arnaldur Indri?dason, and the second in his Inspector Erlendur series. This mystery is also quite different from other mysteries I typically read, but also quite good. There are two parts to the story–the tale set in […]
He Who Fears the Wolf (1997/2003) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David This is the second Inspector Sejer mystery, and once again, the story involves characters on the fringe, who are damaged or not normal. Errki has decided to leave the asylum/institute where he has lived after being involuntarily committed as a danger to himself […]
Don’t Look Back (1996/2002) Karin Fossum translated by Felicity David I started this book, then put it down, and then picked it back up multiple times. The book opens with a young girl being picked up by a strange man driving a van, and the idea that this young girl might die was just more […]
Jar City (2000/2004) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Inspector Erlendur is a detective inspector with the Reykjavik CID. He’s a divorced loner with a terrible relationship with his two grown children, both of whom have issues with drugs. The body of an old man is discovered in his apartment. It looks like a crime […]
Treasure Hunt (2010/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Things are boring in Vigata for Inspector Montalbano and the police, until an elder brother and sister allow their religious mania to push them over the edge. But even that event doesn’t hold Montalbano’s interest for long, which is probably why he allows a “treasure hunt” […]
Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield narrated by Paul Michael I actually recently re-read Night Watch, which is a good thing, because if I hadn’t, then I would have ended up picking it up to re-read towards the end of the first section of the audio book. That’s the problem I have […]
Last Watch (2009) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield At last I come to Last Watch. Theoretically, there is a fifth book, called New Watch available, but it’s listed as unavailable. Boo. Although Last Watch is broken into three parts, Common Cause, A Common Enemy, and A Common Destiny, they are–far more so than the […]
Twilight Watch (2003/2007) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield The third book in the Night Watch series may be my favorite. Like the previous two books, there are three stories: Nobody’s Time, Nobody’s Space, Nobody’s Power. Like the first book, Night Watch, all three stories center on Anton Gorodetsky and are told from his perspective. […]
Day Watch (2000/2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This sequel to Night Watch picks up after the events of the previous book, but while the first book was written from the perspective of Anton Gorodetsky, Night Watch agent, this story is told from the perspective of three different Dark Ones, all three Day Watch […]
Night Watch (2006) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield This is not the first or even second time I’ve re-read this book (series, really). The book Night Watch is split into three separate story arcs, Destiny, Among His Own Kind, and All for My Own Kind, each building upon the previous. Anton Gorodetsky works for […]
The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Pérez-Reverte translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998) Don Jaime Astarloa is the fencing master of Madrid. He has a fencing school, and has private clients, including Luis de Ayala, the Marques de los Alumbres, but Don Jaime is getting old. His world is disappearing into the past, replaced with pistols. […]
The Dance of the Seagull (2013) Andrea Camilleri I really love the Inspector Montalbano series. In fact, I received this ARC yesterday when I got home from work, started reading it, and continued reading until I was finished, despite it being past my bedtime on a work night. :) Salvo Montalbano is getting old. He […]
The Age of Doubt (2008/2012) Andrea Camilleri I think one of the things I like about this series is that Andrea Camilleri hasn’t felt the need to rehabilitate Montalbano–he’s still a bastard, and still talks without thinking, but he’s also still good at his job, despite the fact he has to be close to retirement […]
The Potter’s Field (2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I fear that the end of the Inspector Montalbano may be in sight. Of course, since it’s at least three years from publication to translation, even when the series ends, I’ll have another book coming. Unless this was the last book. I hope this isn’t […]
Last Watch (2009) Sergei Lukyanenko translated by Andrew Bromfield Fourth (and last?) book of the Night Watch series. I’d actually forgotten a good deal of this, probably because I’d only read it once. Published by Mirimax Books