books

Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

The Shape of Water

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

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. […]

Angelica’s Smile

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 […]

Treasure Hunt

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

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

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

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

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

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 […]

August Heat

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

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 […]