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 […]
The Track of Sand (2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Despite the fact he is quite frequently a right bastard, I am terribly fond of Montalbano. Salvo awakes from a bad dream, and so wanders out to the beach behind is house to clear his head only to discover a dead horse–a horse that […]
The Wings of the Sphinx (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Inspector Salvo Montalbano and his girlfriend Livia are again on the outs. And his day begins with a call from Catarella, about a dead body. And if you’ve read an inspector Montalbano book, you know that no phone call from Cat can lead […]
Crimini: The Bitter Lemon Book of Italian Crime Fiction (2005) edited by Giancarlo de Cataldo translated by Andrew Brown After getting sucked into Andrea Camilleri‘s Inspector Montalbano series, when I came across this anthology of Italian crime fiction I decided to branch out and see what it had to offer. The fact that it contained […]
August Heat (2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Satarelli It’s August, and it’s hot, and Inspector Montalbano is unhappy not only because of the heat, but because Liva made Salvo find a house from her friends to rent during their vacation. Unfortunately, the house turns out to be far more trouble than Inspector Montalbno expected […]
The Paper Moon (2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli I am sad. I have now read all the Inspector Montalbano books that have been published and translated into English. August Heat comes out later this year, but after that? No more Inspector Montalbano for me–at least until the next book is translated. Montalbano is […]
The Patience of the Spider (2004) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The problem with Inspector Montalbano books is that if I pick one up, I tend to read the entire book in an evening. Which isn’t so good on a week night. Montalbano is recovering from the events in Rounding the Mark. Liva is […]
Rounding the Mark (2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Inspector Montalbano is mad. Very mad. Police raids in Genoa have made a spectacle of Italian police, and Montalbano feels as if he has been betrayed by a system that ignores that ideals he holds dear. He says he’s going to resign, but then he […]
The Smell of the Night (2001) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli As Montalbano continues to have trouble with the commissioner, trouble with Liva, continues to be an asshole to everyone he works with. In other words, nothing has changed with him. In The Smell of the Night Emanuele Gargano has run off with billions […]
Excursion to Tindari (2000) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli A young man is found dead just outside his front door in what seems to be a mafia killing. This event would have passed almost unnoticed, except that a distraught man calls to report that his parents–who live in the same building as the murdered […]
Voice of the Violin (1997) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The more I read of Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series, the more I like it. Initially I wasn’t sure about Salvo–he’s often a jerk–why do people like him? Well, he can be a jerk, but the more I read, the more he comes across […]
The Snack Thief (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The third book in Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series finds Montalbano investigating a man found murdered in an elevator, while Augello investigates a shooting on a fishing boat that left a Tunisian dead–shot ostensibly by a Tunisian police boat claiming the fishing boat was no […]
The Terra Cotta Dog (1996) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartaelli In the second Inspector Salvo Montalbano book, Montalbano is called by his friend Gege–the head of local prostitution–to meet, because Gege has something he has been asked to discuss with Montalbano. From here, Montalbano is drawn into organized crime, whether he wants to or […]
The Shape of Water (1994) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli After stumbling upon The Fencing Master several years ago, I overcame my reluctance to read books that had been translated into English. I’d somehow gotten it into my head that translated books were literature and my experiences with literature have not always been the […]