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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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” […]
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 […]