Game of Mirrors

Commissario Montalbano #18

by Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli (Translator)

Someone is toying with Italy’s favorite detective
In Game of Mirrors, Inspector Montalbano Mystery and his colleagues are stumped when two bombs explode outside empty warehouses—one of which is connected to a big-time drug dealer. Meanwhile, the alluring Liliana Lombardo is trying to seduce the Inspector over red wine and arancini. Between pesky reporters, amorous trysts, and cocaine kingpins, Montalbano feels like he’s being manipulated on all fronts. That is, until the inspector himself becomes the prime suspect in an unspeakably brutal crime.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Italy, Fiction, Italian Literature, Detective, Mystery Thriller

277 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Andrea Camilleri was an Italian writer. He is considered one of the greatest Italian writers of both 20th and 21st centuries.

Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.

From 1948 to 1950 Camilleri studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. As a matter of fact, his parents knew Pirandello and were even distant friends, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello "Biography of the changed son". His most famous works, the Montalbano series show many pirandellian elements: for example, the wild olive tree that helps Montalbano think, is on stage in his late work "The giants of the mountain"

With RAI, Camilleri worked on several TV productions, such as Inspector Maigret with Gino Cervi. In 1977 he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, holding the chair of Movie Direction, and occupying it for 20 years.

In 1978 Camilleri wrote his first novel Il Corso Delle Cose ("The Way Things Go"). This was followed by Un Filo di Fumo ("A Thread of Smoke") in 1980. Neither of these works enjoyed any significant amount of popularity.

In 1992, after a long pause of 12 years, Camilleri once more took up novel-writing. A new book, La Stagione della Caccia ("The Hunting Season") turned out to be a best-seller.

In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell'Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigàta, an imaginary Sicilian town. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. The name Montalbano is an homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; the similarities between Montalban's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective are remarkable. Both writers make great play of their protagonists' gastronomic preferences.

This feature provides an interesting quirk which has become something of a fad among his readership even in mainland Italy. The TV adaptation of Montalbano's adventures, starring the perfectly-cast Luca Zingaretti, further increased Camilleri's popularity to such a point that in 2003 Camilleri's home town, Porto Empedocle - on which Vigàta is modelled - took the extraordinary step of changing its official denomination to that of Porto Empedocle Vigàta, no doubt with an eye to capitalising on the tourism possibilities thrown up by the author's work.

In 1998 Camilleri won the Nino Martoglio International Book Award.

Camilleri lived in Rome where he worked as a TV and theatre director. About 10 million copies of his novels have been sold to date, and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and North America.

In addition to the degree of popularity brought him by the novels, in recent months Andrea Camilleri has become even more of a media icon thanks to the parodies aired on an RAI radio show, where popular comedian, TV-host and impression artist Fiorello presents him as a raspy voiced, caustic character, madly in love with cigarettes and smoking (Camilleri is well-known for his love of tobacco).

He received an honorary degree from University of Pisa in 2005.

Reviews

[Nikos Tsentemeidis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πρώτος Camilleri που διαβάζω. Είναι από τα βιβλία που διαβάζεις το βράδυ και το «άντε λίγο ακόμη» μπορεί να σε ξενυχτήσει.

Ο ήρωας, αστυνόμος Μονταλμπάνο, είναι ο άνθρωπος της διπλανής πόρτας. Απλός, καθημερινός με τα ελαττώματα του. Σε καμία περίπτωση η γραφή δεν είναι επιτηδευμένη, ούτε προσπαθεί να εντυπωσιάσει, απλώς η πλοκή είναι τόσο γρήγορη που σε συναρπάζει.

[Erato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Που λέτε..ειμαι φαν της αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας και εδω και καιρο ήθελα να διαβάσω τη σειρα του Camilleri με τον αστυνόμο Μονταλμπανο. Τυχαία έπεσε στα χέρια μου αυτο το βιβλιο και αρχικα είπα να το ριξω μια μάτια για να δω πως το παει, ε, και τελικά το διαβασα σε μια μέρα. Παρα πολυ ωραία στρωτή γραφή, που φεύγει σα νεράκι, με συνεχή πλοκή, ανατροπές και μυστήρια, αληθοφάνεις και προσιτοί χαρακτηρες, άρωμα ιταλικής κουζίνας, σισιλιανικες ακτές και μαφία, συναρπαρτιζουν αυτο το μυθιστόρημα.
Θα αναζητήσω οπωσδήποτε και αλλα βιβλια της σειράς, πέρασα πολυ όμορφα!

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, but lighthearted read. When I finished, I was reminded of the Spenser series by Robert Parker. Formulaic, but there was a decent mystery, and a focus on good meals. Someone is working hard to misdirect Salvo Montalbano and his colleagues with anonymous tips. How are a couple of warehouse bombings and a dead set of lovers related? Of course, Montalbano has an attractive young woman to chase, his girlfriend Livia is away, but a bothersome nuisance nonetheless (like the Commissioner), and Catarella is butchering names and words worse than usual so all the characters are back. However, these characters are getting a bit stale -- some more character development would be refreshing.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

#18 is a solid addition to the Inspector Salvo Montalbano mystery series. The title refers to a group of perps who try their best to confuse Salvo about what is going on, through a series of bomb explosions, anonymous telephone calls and letters, and a seductive neighbor. There’s also a hall of mirrors reference to Citizen Kane.

Citizen Kane’s hall of mirrors, 13 seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iQSr...

Though given the somewhat comedic elements in the novel, the Marx Brothers mirror scene from Duck Soup might be more appropriate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKTT-...

Or a touch of Andrea Camilleri’s favorite playwright, Pirandello? So the action is like fun-house mirrors, designed to throw the Vigàta police off the scent. They even get him suspected of murder.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bomb explosions, anonymous telephone calls and letters, and a seductive neighbor — all, like fun-house mirrors, designed to throw the Vigàta police off the scent — lead Sicilian police Commissario Salvatore Montalbano to realize that something dangerous is going on in his beloved city in Andrea Camilleri’s 18th book in the Salvo Montalbano series. But what?

At first, nothing in the case makes any sense. Why bomb two empty warehouses? Why vandalize Salvo’s neighbor’s car? And does the Sinagra crime family have anything to do with it? The brilliant Salvo and his clever sidekick Sergeant Giuseppe Fazio hone in on Salvo’s new neighbor; like him, she lives in the nearby seaside village of Marinella, right on the beach. Breathtakingly gorgeous and promiscuous, Signora Liliana Lombardo clearly has taken a young lover right under the nose of her husband, Adriano Lombardo, an elusive computer salesman. But that doesn’t stop the stunning Liliana from trying to lure Salvo into her bed, as well. Why her interest in the middle-aged Salvo?

As in a carnival funhouse, it takes all of Salvo’s ingenuity to find a way out of the “game of mirrors” that is this case. But, as always, Salvo — aided by his stalwart gang of Fazio, Officer Galluzzo, Vice Commissario (and consummate ladies’ man) Domenico “Mimì” Augello, and the hilarious, Malapropism-prone Officer Agatino Catarella — manages to crack the case — although not before breaking almost as many rules as the criminals! And despite the best efforts of Salvo’s enemies, the TeleVigàta newsman Pippo Ragonese and Vanni Arquà, the chief of the Forensic Laboratory, doing their best to get in his way.

Readers, whether newbies or longtime Salvo fans, will Game of Mirrors impossible to put down. But then the hard part kicks in: waiting a whole year for the translation of the next novel, Una lama di luce (2012), one of four Montalbano novels not yet available in English. No magic mirror can take the sting out of that!

[Berengaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
A really good showing from Montalbà in this strongly plot-focused 18th instalment of the series. The story is tight, the characters in the investigation compelling, Salvo isn't feeling his age as/too much and the media once again plays a harmful/helpful role in the course of events. Well balanced is also the appearance of the regular characters who all get at least their 5 minutes of screen time.

This is one of those mysteries you can guess at the solution to, but have to wait until the detective gets there first before the puzzle falls into place. Camilleri says in the notes that, unlike many others of his novels, this one wasn't inspired by a true-life crime...but that something very similar DID happen after he'd finished writing. Who could have guessed?

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the crime series that although it seldom strays into new territory never seems dull. Every time I read one of the Montablano series I feel like I am in the company of an old friend. Eager to hear of the latest great meals eaten, how the mutual acquaintances are faring and yes of course be reassuringly led through a Sicilian mystery. Deeply satisfying if you are a fan.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a few of these Montalbano protagonist from the Sicilian series before, I have to say this one was the best so far. The "game of mirrors" being played between Montalbano and his next door neighbor, Liliana Lombardo, beyond the larger working case of mysterious assault- is a top notch quality dance. The nuance, the implication, the locale feel- every detail becomes mirrored reflections from either side of the lane the houses share- and their occupants. Amidst the steamy, witty and nearly in every other encounter, also dicey. Manners too and the use of dialect language and printing the words running all together within and without all the wider array of characters! All the shades! Either the Sicilian manners supreme in languorous coffee, wine, or delectable morsel accompanied- or the female matron aggression to offend first and so not "finish last" or outside the loop of the in the know power. Or the mumbling assistant who swallows all the ends of the words.

Few things are as they seem. Some lovers are not. Successful computer business and other enterprise questionable?

I can't say it as well as Donna Leon says on the front cover quote "The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fills the air of Sicily."

Said well. And the pages of Notes at the end of these editions are absolutely priceless. They define the Sicilian phrases or implied language context nuance better than any other translation aid I have come across. It's 4.5 star, this one.

Now I absolutely have to find myself some of Adelina's sartu di riso alla calabrisa, which I have never had but sounds delectable. I will have to settle for pasta alla carrettiera instead as I have my hot peppers from the garden in my freezer.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite read from Andrea Camilleri one of my favourite authors. This book is interchangable with the TV series Inspector Montalbano as the novel is closely followed in that script. However there is more nuance and humour in the written word and it represents everything I like about this author.
The Inspector is at a difficult age and when he comes to the aid of a new neighbour,both nubile and stunningly beautiful, a friendship developes that if he is not too careful could ruin his career, not to mention his longstanding relationship with Livia. The only one possibly with this aim would be Adelina his housekeeper, possibly the most important women in his life who hates his girlfriend.
Bombs, drugs, mafia influence, attempted murder, corruption and press manipulation variously muddy the waters of the investigation. If Montalbano can stay focus, maybe, just maybe he will crack this case.
As usual the story is full of great relationships, wonderful dialogue and characters so real they lift from the page. The grumpy old man left smoking outside is a marvelous example of Camillera's eye and ear for authentic detail and amusing interactions.
Everyone loves Cat and it is good to see development of Fazio as one of his most reliable officers and a loyal friend.
If you enjoy this TV version then these books should delight and entertain you. I hope you'll read more if won over by this series of crime novels set in the Italian world of Sicillian life.

[Lisa Regan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know how these are best sellers. The writing is uninspired (not just the translation, but the things being written about) - I know people have commented on the food aspect as part of the appeal, but Camilleri doesn't wax lyrical about the meals, just tells us what Montalbano is stuffing into his face each time and then says he has to walk it off as he's eaten too much. There's no sense of a love of food, just gluttony.

The characters are two dimensional and unendearing, I didn't get drawn in by any of them. The accented dialogue is plain annoying. The plot is confusing and ultimately uninteresting. I'm the kind of reader who doesn't try to guess ahead and will happily be carried along on the author's whim, but even I was mentally shouting at the detectives about clues they'd missed. And what begins as a whodunnit and whydunnit turns into an alarmingly violent series of murders and rape, about which Montalbano seems only mildly perturbed even though he's been suckered into a near-relationship with one of the victims.

Maybe they're just old-school, but I certainly won't be reading any more.

[Rafal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Druga historia z komisarzem Montalbano, z która się zmierzyłem w te wakacje. Szybka, wciągająca akcja; dużo dobrego jedzenia; zwroty akcji, niebanalne zakończenie. Czyta się to szybko i z przyjemnością. To nie jest wielka literatura ale to jest bardzo fajne czytadło. A do tego tłumaczem jest mój znajomy, i trzeba przyznać, że doskonale oddał specyfikę postaci, miejsca. Doskonała książka na deszczowy, wakacyjny wieczór.

[alyssa · Rating 1 out of 5]

shitty pulp fiction

[Lara Galgani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately these stories are getting all very samey, Montalbano feels old, falls for a beautiful girl who, directly or indirectly, is involved with the latest case, and has never-ending arguments with is girlfriend. Sometime the actual crime is a bit more interesting, as it is the case here, this is why I gave the book 3 stars.

[Utti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si avvicina la fine dell'anno e si avvicina il momento dei buoni propositi: mangiare meglio, fare più attività fisica, leggere di più...
Oltre a leggere di più, si potrebbe anche dire leggere meglio.

Se quest'anno le letture mi hanno non sempre soddisfatto (soprattutto alcune delle ultime), ho scelto di regalarmi un passaggio gioioso al 2023, affidandomi a un amico fidato: Salvo Montalbano.
Non il romanzo più riuscito di Camilleri, ma una lettura sempre intelligente, brillante e piacevole. Con quella voce sporcata dal fumo e resa unica dall'uso del dialetto che tanto bene mi fa stare.

[D'Ailleurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Κλασσικός Καμιλλέρι, κοφτός λόγος και σαρδόνιο μεσογειακό χιούμορ. Και πολύ φαγητό.

[Ricarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Immer eine schöne leichte Lektüre mit viel Flair und Lokalkolorit. Dennoch fand ich die älteren Fälle besser und spannender

[Ladiibbug · Rating 4 out of 5]

#18 Inspector Montalbano series

[Camilla tra le righe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mi era mancato leggere il mio adorato Montalbano!

[Nancy Oakes]

This is the 18th installment in Camilleri's Montalbano series, and from day one I've thoroughly enjoyed each and every book. That hasn't changed, although it does seem to me that Camilleri has taken a more serious direction this time around. Salvo is still Salvo though, still eating at Enzo's trattoria, still taking time to meditate on his rock, and still getting in trouble with the ladies while Livia isn't around. This time it's his new neighbor, the knock-out Signora Liliana Lombardo.

As usual, Montalbano's strange dream opens the novel, interrupted (thankfully) by a call reporting that a bomb has gone off somewhere. No one is hurt, thank goodness, but trying to discover who set it off and why is the squad's major challenge. As the investigation proceeds, Liliana is doing all she can to seduce the Inspector both publicly and privately, leading Salvo to question her motivation. Not that he's not an attractive man, but still -- even to him she's overdoing it. While the bombing investigation proceeds, Salvo finds himself under fire from his TV-reporter nemesis Ragonese, but when things start to escalate and dead bodies start turning up, Salvo realizes that someone really has it in for him. By the time things come to this point, the hunt is on for exactly who this might be, and more specifically, why Salvo himself has become a target. He is, in short, "faced with a a series of occurrences without any apparent reason behind them."

Reading this novel, you might notice that this book isn't quite as funny or as critical as the past installments have been and that here the focus seems to be much more on trying to connect the dots between a series of strange crimes. At the same time, the story has all the same characters, relationships, and dialogue that together with Montalbano's quirkiness have kept me reading through eighteen books. I think what I enjoy most about this book beyond the usual craziness and the convoluted crimes is Camilleri's flair for catching the people whom one might run into on the streets. There's a great scene (184,185), for example, where an old man is sitting in a building's courtyard, smoking a pipe, complaining that he doesn't talk to his daughter because she doesn't want him smoking inside the house. The old guy is just so perfectly captured here that you can't help but laugh, especially when he punctuates his complaints by spitting "a clot of dense brown material that looked like prune jam."

PLEASE do not let this book be your first introduction to Camilleri's novels -- you will have missed precisely what makes these books so wonderful and so worth the wait for each and every new book. Getting back to the oddball combination of realistic crazy people in these books is the highlight of each installment. I will be SO incredibly bummed when this series is over.

[Larraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

'm a latecomer to this series, but am loving it. My next step is to go back and read the earlier ones. I've been an enthusiastic reader of Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti series. Although Brunetti and Montalbano are as different as they can be (Brunetti is a married northerner with two children who has the disdain that Italians from the north have for those from the south. Montalbano is a Sicilian through and through. His girlfriend is from Genoa. They "squabble" a lot, and he is often unfaithful.), they are also very similar in a lot of ways. They both enjoy good food from their own regions. They are both very bright and very very honest. Both have also learned the fine Italian art of flattering their superiors and not making too many waves except when absolutely necessary. Both know that that corruption is all around them although neither gives in to it. Both walk a fine line. In this latest book, empty warehouses are being bombed. Why? Makes no sense, right? In the meantime, a beautiful woman and her often-absent husband have moved in nearby. She does her best to seduce him. He can't help but wonder why. As things progress, he starts to see a connection between her and the bombings, but it's tenuous at best. I guess my only complaint here is that, like the Brunetti books, there are way too many mouth watering discussions of food. Plus, since my family is from Southern Italy, I'm far more familiar with the food that Montalbano is enjoying. When I read about eggplant parmesan or arrancini (rice balls) as big as oranges, it can be really hard to stay focused on the story! Still, as always, this is a super fun series!

[Alfredo Tomasini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para muchos, nuestra introducción al Inspector Montalbano tuvo lugar en la televisión y, no a través de las novelas de Andrea Camilleri donde surgió.
El inspector Montalbano, un hombre próximo a la cincuentena, dirige la jefatura de la policía de una ciudad imaginaria: Vigata, situada en Sicilia.
Las novelas de Camilleri, convertidas en episodios de la serie "El Inspector Montalbano", privilegian la deducción antes que la acción. Así, a partir de la ocurrencia de un crimen, el espectador y/o lector, guiado de la mano de Camilleri, inicia inevitablemente un proceso de elaboración de hipótesis o corazonadas que, en las más de la veces, resultan equivocadas, porque aun cuando el autor nos deja pistas, es hábil para sorprendernos con el final.
El hecho de que Camilleri haya participado en la filmación de sus novelas aseguró que se conservaran las características principales de su personajes, del entorno de éstos y, desde luego, de la trama.
Camilleri toma el nombre de esta novela; "Juego de espejos", de una escena de la película La Dama de Shangai de Orson Welles, donde una mujer, perseguida por un hombre armado, se oculta en una sala de espejos de un parque de atracciones, por lo que éste no distingue con precisión si ve un reflejo o si se trata de la mujer que busca matar.
Para quienes no han tenido ningún contacto con la obra de Camilleri,"Juego de espejos" es una buena puerta de entrada. Disfrutarán de su estilo ágil que delata con toda claridad, la carrera de guionista que precedió a su incursión en el ámbito de la narrativa.

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Montalbano books are enjoyable detective novels. I think this one - number 18 - has softened the formula up. It's easiest to bullet point where Camilleri has moved from well muscled and original to a bit flabby and too settled in his delivery.
1) Catarella's accent has gone from "Hi, Inspector, the c'missioner wants to speak to you poisonally in poisson" to 'da c'missner iz onna line, wanning to speek poisonally n poisson." It's a bit laboured.
2) Montalbano always falls in love with sexy young women. They all try to seduce him. I'd like to see one playing hard to get.
3) Livia - she's still around and arguing every time they talk on the phone. Sigh.
4) Montalbano used to have deep philosophical thoughts about ageing, sex, his relationship with Livia, etc. In this book he seems almost two dimensional because he isn't growing as a man anymore. A shame. I liked the fact Montalbano struggled with himself.

Anyway, light and still worth reading about one or two a year, but not what they used to be. This book is indicative of complacency.

[Spiros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard Montalbano: the good commissario frets about his advancing age, and his relationship with his insufferable long-distance girlfriend. Fazio shows himself to be increasingly indispensable (maybe he'll get his own spin-off series, when Montalbano is put out to pasture, a la Sergeant Lewis), Augello is led around by his penis, and Catarella is his usual, bungling spastic self. And speaking of being led around by the penis, once again Salvu finds himself being vamped by a duplicitous femme fatale.
For long stretches, nothing much happens. In the end, despite his feelings of senescence, Montalbano adroitly contrives to damage two rival Families. Most importantly, Adelina and Enzo are on their respective games: the food descriptions are positively mouthwatering.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of Camilleri's best. Maybe I just couldn't seem to care about any of those involved in the elaborate set up. It was a complicated set up, maybe a bit too complicated, like an elaborate game of chess where both sides are assuming that the other side doesn't know what game they are playing, or do they? Two movies are referenced, The Lady of Shanghai (1947) and Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) (1970). Both have to deal with deflection and how to hide in plain sight. But maybe it's all a bit too clever for its own good. Still, as usual, I didn't mind reading this book and will continue to enjoy the series I am sure.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Won't be bothering with these anymore. Too much profanity. Like Bond, the seductive women are iconic male fantasies - that, in and of itself would be entertaining if they weren't so lewd. Story wasn't that interesting, and the protagonist wasn't particularly likable.

[Rhonda Bierma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Inspector Montalbano story until about 3/4ths of the way through. The murders at the end seemed especially brutal and Montalbano’s reaction of melancholy lacking in compassion. Also he was satisfied at nailing the crooks but didn’t seem to acknowledge his failure inpreventing the murders. So, I gave this one a three.

[Vasilis Kalandaridis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Δεν μπορώ να το εξηγήσω.Μετά από τόσες ιστορίες του Μονταλμπάνο που έχω διαβάσει,19 ζωή να'χουν,ακόμα μαγεύομαι από αυτές.Ειναι τόσο απλό το γράψιμο,τόσο καθόλου επιτηδευμένο,τόσο γήινο,τόσο Καμιλλέρι.Καλό απόγευμα Κυριακής.

[Diane Standish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one rates as one of his best (so far). Number 18 in the series, and I just can't get my fill of Salvo and the crew. I will be so sad when the series is done. I never or rarely reread, but I am going to reread this series. Great story, great characters.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment. Enough said, I love my Inspector.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather than dismiss this book entirely, let me admit that it just wasn’t for me. It has a high rating in GR, the detective and author have a big following and I can see why – it has elements in it that are exactly what I don’t like in a police novel. So, I ought to give my reasons for not appreciating this book.

1) This is a clownish novel that has nothing of drama until the very last pages when there are brutal murders and a rape, neither of which seem to overly affect the Inspector – it’s life and part of the job. However, no one rises above the level of clown which might explain a lot about Sicilian police and the Mafia.

2) The Inspector is more concerned with food and sex with his beautiful next-door neighbor, not necessarily in that order. Within a few pages, we know she’s the classic femme fatale and what will probably happen to her since femmes fatales never last in a series. She’s trouble, soon to be history.

3) The whole plot is so predictable that I was not 20 or 30 pages ahead but from 50 to 100, leading me to believe that the police department was composed of morons who couldn’t see or didn’t care about the obvious. Not an intelligent woman in the book, either.

4) All the buffoonery with accents only slowed the whole book, which was tedious enough. A running joke that wasn’t particularly funny.

5) Any comparisons with Philip Marlowe, as some critics made, is an insult to Raymond Chandler. At least they didn’t bring James Cain or Dashiell Hammett into the argument. This is Mickey Spillane but without the “hard-boiled” or any other tension.

Now, in its favor: this is a super-fast read which will in no way hurt your brain so it’s a good way to pump up your number of books, reaching your GR goal for the year. In fact, that’s what I’m thinking of doing. I got this book in an even swap and I have one more that I bought from a clearance outlet. I’ll swap back this one, then one-I’m-done with the author.