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A review by theemptybox
Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri
3.0
Perhaps it was my mistake of not realizing I had picked up the sixteenth installment of a mystery series or maybe it was the difference in writing and then translation of this book that made it leave a poor taste in my mouth. While it was a good read for a short book, it felt as if it took forever to get to the actual plot.
The main character, inspector Montalbano, is not a protagonist I'm interested in following. He's brushes people off and rather rude to many people he comes in contact with. Once the true heart of the mystery was revealed it felt like it was solved all too quickly. As a reader, I couldn't sit and think about how to fit the small hints and clues into the big picture myself before the inspector solved it a matter of paragraphs down or on the next page. The big mystery of the book took an exceptionally long while to reveal itself and then was solved rather quickly within the last forty pages or so.
I want to say it was a good read, but it was nearly painful trying to get through the first half of such a small book. Maybe if I knew more about the protagonist I would have enjoyed it more, but he's just unlikable to me. I wished they had spent more time on the opening case rather than spending the first quarter of the book introducing characters that Montalbano doesn't enjoy being around or him bumbling through life.
Overall, I wanted more of the actual missing girl case. But was disappointed in learning about the protagonist's sad life than getting to a mystery.
The main character, inspector Montalbano, is not a protagonist I'm interested in following. He's brushes people off and rather rude to many people he comes in contact with. Once the true heart of the mystery was revealed it felt like it was solved all too quickly. As a reader, I couldn't sit and think about how to fit the small hints and clues into the big picture myself before the inspector solved it a matter of paragraphs down or on the next page. The big mystery of the book took an exceptionally long while to reveal itself and then was solved rather quickly within the last forty pages or so.
I want to say it was a good read, but it was nearly painful trying to get through the first half of such a small book. Maybe if I knew more about the protagonist I would have enjoyed it more, but he's just unlikable to me. I wished they had spent more time on the opening case rather than spending the first quarter of the book introducing characters that Montalbano doesn't enjoy being around or him bumbling through life.
Overall, I wanted more of the actual missing girl case. But was disappointed in learning about the protagonist's sad life than getting to a mystery.