lisaschuu's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book definitely but I had trouble keeping up with all the names and got confused sometimes. It ending becomes quite face-paced in my opinion but ends quite abruptly. I was left thinking what happened to all these characters in the novel. Nevertheless I still enjoyed it and may read more of Andrea Camilleri's Montelbano series. I would also recommend this book to older readers (older teenagers plus) as it does have quite a bit of swearing and some sexual references.
jess_segraves's review against another edition
2.0
This is the first book I've ever read by Camilleri; I saw it in the new mystery section at the library and thought I would give it a shot. My first impression is that it's a bit difficult to jump into the middle of this series without knowing the characters prior; I occasionally had some difficulties trying to remember who was who. (This was especially the case when Camilleri would refer to someone by their last name for six or so pages before someone refers to the person in passing by their first name. Quite difficult to discern who the person in question was! But that may be a translation issue more than anything else.)
I had high hopes for this book, but was a bit disappointed. The first 70 pages—roughly a third of the book—were extremely slow. The murder occurs, but there's no progress toward finding the killer. Instead, Inspected Montalbano (the protagonist) is featured prominently—or more accurately, his relationship problems with a woman named Livia, with whom he has had an on-again off-again relationship for years.
This book is heavily male-oriented. By that, I don't mean that only men would enjoy this book. But the primary characters—eccentric and almost cracky—are all men. Tommaseo works with Montalbano, and he's obsessed with victims' sex lives (or sex in general). Meanwhile, Catarella—kind of the police lackey—speaks with a hokey accent. (For example, he says "poissonally in poisson" a lot, or "personally in person.")
Montalbano is kind of an interesting protagonist. In this book he seems rather gloomy, but passing references to other events and other cases implies that he's not usually so glum. The weather and access to fresh fish seem to affect his moods greatly, and he takes pleasure in a good mid-day meal, regardless of the cases he works. I found Camilleri's inclusion of Montalbano's internal monologues to be quite funny as well. He also plays a crazy cop with unusual "interrogation" techniques in the examination of one suspect, and yells out multiplication tables to get the suspect to stop crying—an extremely funny scene.
I felt that the plot twisted and turned but ended up sort of where you would expect, despite some surprising instances that interrupt one's first thoughts. I would like to read the first in this series to get a better sense of Camilleri's writing and characters before passing further judgment; I found this book a bit difficult to follow at times.
I had high hopes for this book, but was a bit disappointed. The first 70 pages—roughly a third of the book—were extremely slow. The murder occurs, but there's no progress toward finding the killer. Instead, Inspected Montalbano (the protagonist) is featured prominently—or more accurately, his relationship problems with a woman named Livia, with whom he has had an on-again off-again relationship for years.
This book is heavily male-oriented. By that, I don't mean that only men would enjoy this book. But the primary characters—eccentric and almost cracky—are all men. Tommaseo works with Montalbano, and he's obsessed with victims' sex lives (or sex in general). Meanwhile, Catarella—kind of the police lackey—speaks with a hokey accent. (For example, he says "poissonally in poisson" a lot, or "personally in person.")
Montalbano is kind of an interesting protagonist. In this book he seems rather gloomy, but passing references to other events and other cases implies that he's not usually so glum. The weather and access to fresh fish seem to affect his moods greatly, and he takes pleasure in a good mid-day meal, regardless of the cases he works. I found Camilleri's inclusion of Montalbano's internal monologues to be quite funny as well. He also plays a crazy cop with unusual "interrogation" techniques in the examination of one suspect, and yells out multiplication tables to get the suspect to stop crying—an extremely funny scene.
I felt that the plot twisted and turned but ended up sort of where you would expect, despite some surprising instances that interrupt one's first thoughts. I would like to read the first in this series to get a better sense of Camilleri's writing and characters before passing further judgment; I found this book a bit difficult to follow at times.
theliterateporcupine's review against another edition
3.0
Silly, Engaging, but a little Slow, this has not been my favorite of the series.
chronicreader96's review against another edition
3.0
I adore the Montalbano series, but this one isn’t one of my favourites.
Opening a new Montalbano book feels like returning home. I have come to love the characters and Camilleri’s writing is incredible. The descriptions of food always make me feel so hungry!
However, I was really enjoying this book until the last couple of chapters. The end to the case seemed rushed and has actually left me feeling a little frustrated and confused. I am hoping that the next book has a case that grips me all the way through and has a plot twist before the end, as I usually expect this from the Montalbano series. I close this book feeling slightly unsatisfied, but hopeful for what is to come!
Opening a new Montalbano book feels like returning home. I have come to love the characters and Camilleri’s writing is incredible. The descriptions of food always make me feel so hungry!
However, I was really enjoying this book until the last couple of chapters. The end to the case seemed rushed and has actually left me feeling a little frustrated and confused. I am hoping that the next book has a case that grips me all the way through and has a plot twist before the end, as I usually expect this from the Montalbano series. I close this book feeling slightly unsatisfied, but hopeful for what is to come!
mxd's review against another edition
2.0
Since I'm adding this review quite a while after having finished the book, I only vaguely remember the plot (I dunno, someone done a murder or su'ink). Montalbano was his grouchy self with the usual relationship issues and snarky comments to his colleagues. I think I quite enjoyed the dialogue this one. Fun read.
writtenbypoets's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
lara_m02's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
lomahongva's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
drifterontherun's review against another edition
4.0
While I didn't like this Montalbano mystery as much as the last, August Heat, it is still a solid entry to the series. There is quite a lot going on here, between details regarding Montalbano's now-rocky relationship with Livia, a side story about a faked-kidnapping, and the (as usual) excellent passages on Enzo's amazing trattoria (and other food notes) that the "main" story, that of the murder of a tattooed Russian girl, seems to get lost in the shuffle. That this book is a relatively brisk 231 pages condenses matters even further, so that in the end you're left feeling like things were all a bit rushed. Perhaps some of this will be covered in the next Montalbano, but nevertheless this entry whets the appetite for more!
fallchicken's review against another edition
4.0
These books do make me hungry. All this guy does is eat wonderful sounding food.
Nice, complicated mystery all tidily resolved in the end.
Will Montalbano and Livia ever get it together?
Nice, complicated mystery all tidily resolved in the end.
Will Montalbano and Livia ever get it together?