Rating: 4* of fiveThe Book Report: Salvo Montalbano and the Vigata police force have a strange case, one that's not their case and not particularly important seeming as the Common Knowledge has already given it an ending: A Ponzi-scheme swindler comes home to Vigata after being away most of his life, seemingly to answer the greediest prayers of the Vigatese by providing huge returns on the investment of their life savings. One fine day, he fails to appear and disburse the income due, and is never seen again. A major investigation by Montalbano's wretchedly political and horrifically petty bosses has led to the conclusion that Mr. Ponzi's follower was offed by the Mafia, either for taking the wrong widow's life savings or plowing fields they felt were their own. After getting involved due to a ludicrous hostage standoff, Montalbano can't help but keep worrying at the threads not in their proper places. In the end, to no one's surprise, the Ponzi schemer is found dead, but not where, or how, anyone could have expected at the beginning of the case.My Review: I am on record as a fan of the series, and I've given plenty of reasons I feel the books are superior. But one idea has occurred in multiple places and from multiple sources: These books reek, to some, of the corruption and wickedness that mysteries, as distinct from thrillers or noirs, seek to combat. Montalbano doesn't shy away from rule-breaking, he flirts with and even goes far afield with some of the beauteous women Camilleri clearly thinks we all want to read about; his world contains those who aren't morally upright but are valued friends.Yeah, so? As does your own life, nine bets in ten. Camilleri's character is flawed, and knows this about himself, but he's always motivated by the need to fix things and help people and make the world run right, even if it means breaking rules and going outside the system. I don't sense that this is a problem in other cop-centered series. I have wondered why that seems off-putting in this series.I think it's because the Mafia is invoked so often, and that makes Americans very tense. It's very much a part of our national conversation even yet, and has entered English as a term of opprobrium for any group or team that's opposed to your own. (I treasure a mention of the Bush Mafia made in Austin's newspaper, later retracted and apologized for. THAT was a good day!)It's all I can figure, anyway. I am so NOT in love with the current fashion for Scandinavian crime writers that I think I may have reacted histaminically by heading for Sicily. Something more exciting, please, no reserved and tortured souls trying to make amends for their misdeeds, thank you. And as these books don't have revolting, violent depictions of things I don't want to think about (yes, that's Lisbeth in my crosshairs), perhaps the ghoul crowd isn't tempted in. Taste being inarguable, granted, I still wonder at the reason for uninterest or dislike that I've seen mention far more than once.Guess that's why there'll always be chocolate and vanilla.
I have to admit that I was disappointed by this book. This is my first encounter with Salvo Montalbano, and I had high expectations, given the reputation of the famous commissario. Furthermore, Camilleri is hailed as an institution in the genre of crime novels, so I naturally assumed that this novel will be a real treat.However, I was proven wrong. I really liked the setting of the novel, and the sights and sounds (and food!) of Sicily. Montalbano was a good enough character, I suppose, and I liked the supporting cast of characters (the guys in the commissionaria especially). However, I was underwhelmed by the plot. The mystery in a nutshell is rather simple, and that was the thing I disliked the most. True, there were entertaining enough crime novels which didn't have a stellar idea behind them, but at least the authors compensated with a better supporting plot, or focused a part of the novels on the emotional/psychological growth of the main character. Here, Montalbano is portrayed in a rudimentary fashion. Yes, he is likeable, and his faults make him all the more endearing, but his characterization was superficial, almost as his relationship with Livia.There are no major twist and turns in the plot, and Montalbano's hunches always prove to be correct. I usually have nothing against that, but that made this novel boring. Hence the two stars.P.S. Props to Camilleri for the Faulkner reference.
What do You think about The Smell Of The Night (2005)?
Non riesco a smettere di leggere i gialli di Camilleri, sono, ognuno a modo suo, originali, sprezzanti e moderni. Amo le similitiduni fra uno e l'altro, i personaggi che si delineano a poco a poco e Montalbano che cerca di tirare le fila e di arrivare al punto in cui gli scatta quella scintilla e risolve il caso. Anche in questo giallo come in molti altri, c'è una donna bellissima e intelligente che seduce il commissario e dal quale lui riesce comunque a sottrarsi. Questa, e altre cose simili, rendono il commissario ancora più umano e che rende il racconto più di un semplice giallo.
—Nicoletta
So I was joking to a friend the other week about how I was going to try and get into Italian crime fiction. After all, I said, this fashion for gruesome stuff from Scandinavia can’t go on for other, other countries/regions will have to have their turn and as such I could try to get to the front of the queue on the next trend. Then, a few days later, I saw that BBC4 were broadcasting a documentary about the new wave of Italian crime writers and I realised this was yet another bus I’d missed.Anyway I watched the documentary and this brings me to: ‘The Scent of the Night’ by Andrea Camilleri.Sometimes when you review novels translated from other languages, you wonder whether you’re reviewing the work itself or the translation. For example, some of the prose is pretty pedestrian in this, but is that the fault of Camilleri, or is it some scribe who has not made the effort to properly render some colourful Italian descriptions? Similarly, the menial characters in this book seem to speak in a very cod ‘itsa lika this’ style Italian. That’s a bit distracting as everyone else’s dialogue is in normal English, and then someone arrives who seems to be doing a Joe Dolce impression. But again, who should I blame for that?The plot is diverting enough and the style is very gossipy (certainly more so than all that stuff pumped out of Sweden), while Montalbano – our hero detective – is an intriguing and interesting character. But in the end this is a moderately diverting read, rather than a gripping one.
—F.R.
An investment broker/con artist goes missing in the town of Vigata, leaving many fixed income seniors in the lurch. Montalbano intercedes in locating the missing man for personal reasons, and we quickly find out that he is trouble with his girlfriend (again) and that he is easily smitten with young beautiful young women and Sicilian food. The telephone conversations in the previous novels which were particularly revealing and yet hilarious were not evident in this book. Oh the twists and turns, making the ending a surprise in the last few pages! The Montalbano novels are an atmospheric quick read which are enjoyable if not for the Sicilian setting, food descriptions, and explanatory notes at the back of each book, but for the quirky translations that often leave the reader unsettled and unsure as to what just happened. An example is the discussion about partial intelligences (pg. 180) which seemed out of place and didn't quite do the trick for me. A number of the characters and constabulary have similar names that begin with the letter G - is that an affectation of the author?Not sure, but it does keep the reader on his or her toes!P.S. - A quick look at the title on the Fantastic Fiction website reveals that the book has also been published as The Scent of the Night).
—Anita
