Το χαμόγελο της Αντζέλικα

Commissario Montalbano #17

by Andrea Camilleri, Φωτεινή Ζερβού (Translator)

Η ηλικία δεν εµποδίζει τον Μονταλµπάνο ν' αναζητά τη χαρά και τη µαγεία που µόνο οι εφηβικοί έρωτες προσφέρουν και να βιώνει καταστάσεις που φανερώνουν συναισθηµατική ανωριµότητα και έντονο παραλογισµό, χτυποκάρδια και ερωτική λαγνεία, δυνατό πάθος, εκρήξεις θυµού, αλλά και έντονη ζήλια. Θυµάται απέξω το ποίηµα Adolescente του Βιντσέντσο Καρνταρέλλι. Απαγγέλλει τους στίχους που µιλάνε για τον "σφουγγαρά" που θα έχει την τύχη να γευτεί το "σπάνιο µαργαριτάρι" της έφηβης. Και ξέρει πολύ καλά, παρά τη δυσπιστία της µέσης ηλικίας, λίγο πολύ, µεταξύ σοβαρού και αστείου, ότι "... ο ώριµος άνθρωπος είναι ένα παιδί που γκρινιάζει επειδή µεγάλωσε". Πλάι στον αστυνόµο, στη δύσκολη φάση, στέκει σιωπηλά, διακριτικά και µε κατανόηση o επιθεωρητής Φάτσιο. Αντίθετα, η αρραβωνιαστικιά του η Λίβια δεν πιστεύει στη "φρονιµάδα" του και θεωρεί ότι η εξοµολόγηση µιας απιστίας που έγινε µε την ειλικρίνεια που χαρακτηρίζει την ηλικία της επιπολαιότητας ήταν κοµπασµός. Ο Μονταλµπάνο κεραυνοβολήθηκε από την οµορφιά και την ανήθικη ερωτική ζωή της νεαρής Αντζέλικα.

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

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a brutal (and disappointingly so) last book in the series, Treasure Hunt, where a comedy about blow up dolls turns to grotesque horror, Angelica’s Song begins in earnest (again, as usual) with romantic comedy as the 58-year old Salvo falls (yet again) for a (beautiful, duh) woman (Angelica, the one of the title with the smile), completely. So, yeah, Salvo continues his mid-life-crisis in falling in love with a woman half his age, as has happened in several books, so that's nice, but I'm getting a little tired of it. Still, who wouldn’t love that lissome woman on the romantic, watercolored cover, walking on a Sicilian beach?

So this one isn’t about murders but a series of burglaries where Salvo is in addition receiving threatening letters from the perp. Then the aforementioned Angelica Cosulich gets burgled, and comes to him, and he gets starry-eyed. Yes, he is still “with” Livia, a long distance relationship, but this is Sicily, not some country stuck on monogamy, after all! And don’t forget Angelica's smile! You are getting very sleepy (or is it horny?), keep looking at my smile. . . and all the men are drooling idiots.

The literary hook in this one is that Angelica reminds him of a woman in Ludovico Ariosto’s 1516 chivalric romance, Orlando Furioso, so Salvo comes back to that story from time to time, a medieval tale of knights and ladies-needing-to be rescued.

But is Angelica a fit “replacement” for his long time, long distance girlfriend Livia? Salvo realizes on some level it is foolish, the by-product of aging, but he nevertheless of course acts helpless around her. At one point Salvo decides to come clean and confess his dalliance to Livia, who refuses to believe it: “Oh, grow up, Salvo! Why are you trying to make me jealous? If you had an affair with someone, you would never tell me!” This is funny, but then we discover things are not as they seem about this Angelica.

This is a good book if this is the only one you pick up, but I am now getting annoyed by the lack of character development in secondary characters and the sameness of the plot patterns and schtick. And phrases keep on repeating: Busting balls; when Salvo gets an insight it is “like a bolt of lightning;” Cat was funny in the first few books with his malapropism, but it’s always the same phrases: “personally in person,” and so on.

[Nancy Oakes]

like a 3.5

As usual with these books, the focus in this story isn't so much on the crime or the crime solving, but instead on Inspector Salvo Montalbano and the people surrounding him. This one is a little more on the personal side, with less reference to the social, economic and political issues that Camilleri usually brings to his work.

Our beloved inspector is now just two years short of sixty, and as in the last few books, he continues to muse about aging and growing older throughout the novel. He's still with long-time girlfriend Livia, and as the story opens, she is at Marinella with him for a few days. As he's worrying about someone named Carlo she mentioned while talking in her sleep, and getting more upset by the moment, he is called to the scene of an odd burglary. The couple that was robbed had been at their seaside home, where they'd awakened at six a.m. only to discover that they'd been "knocked out with some sort of gas," while the burglars "had the run of the place." It was their anniversary, and they were entertaining each other at the time, so neither person heard any sort of break in. Among a long list of valuables taken from the seaside house, the thieves stole their car and then proceeded to rob their regular residence. The only people who knew that the couple were going to be away were fifteen of their friends. As things turn out, there had been another burglary, "an exact duplicate," just three days earlier - and it isn't too long before the same thing happens again. When Montalbano is called out on yet another, he meets the titular and beautiful Angelica, the victim and also the "spitting image" of a woman he used to lust over as a teen in Dore's illustrations of Ludovico Ariosto's 1516 work Orlando Furiosio, a "poem about war and love and the romantic ideal of chivalry." After seeing her for the first time, he's immediately swept off his feet -- and definitely attracted. But even while he's mentally and physically lusting after his Angelica, as well as playing the role of her rescuer, there is still a number of crimes to solve -- including a murder -- and as an added distraction, the mastermind of the crimes is taunting the police. And of course, there's Livia.

While it's pretty funny to see Montalbano as a loopy, lovesick puppy completely smitten by this reincarnation of his teenage fantasies, and while Camilleri continues his long-standing tradition of inserting colorful characters into the mix, let me offer a word of warning here as far as the crime solving goes. I made the huge mistake of going to Sartarelli's notes in the back re the poem Orlando Furioso (a natural inclination), and twigged the entire plot all at once. Not the why of it, mind you, but trust me - if you read carefully, it's all there metaphorically speaking. I figured out much more than I should have at an early stage, and ended up being disappointed, an adjective I don't generally use when it comes to this series of books. And then there's this: I'm wondering if the author is getting a little tired -- this book just didn't seem to have the same oomph as his earlier Montalbano adventures that have been so lively up to this point. Still, it's a fun read, and in that vein I have to say that I probably haven't had so many good laughs with any other crime fiction series as I have with this one. Like I've said before, you don't read Camilleri's novels for the crime -- it's all about the characters.

[Chris_P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angelica's Smile is a contemporary crime novel that reads like a classic. Few are the elements that betray the time the plot takes place.

It's not too good, not too bad. The prose is stripped of unnecessary descriptions and sticks to the point. Personally, I didn't mind since I found it suitable to the story. Development-wise, it's more or less flawless. The plot unravels in a flowing manner and the mystery is quite interesting. What I felt it lacked, was that little something that would allow the story to take off and carry you with it. It actually never left the ground and remained a decent, if a bit flat novel.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the novel Thrones, Dominations, jointly penned by the late Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh, protagonist Harriet Vane, herself a mystery writer, states that, a mystery novel without a murder isn’t worth reading. Andrea Camillieri, in Angelica’s Smile, the 17th novel to feature Chief Inspector Salvo Montalbano, proves that dead wrong — if you’ll pardon the pun! The Vigàta police are beset with a string of complicated burglaries, and, while that may sound dull, it’s anything but. The crafty mastermind of the burglary ring, dubbed “Mr. Z” by the wisecracking Montalbano, sends taunting letters to Montalbano and even attempts to get Montalbano into even worst trouble with Police Commissioner Bonetti-Alderighi, who already hates Montalbano.

At 58, Montalbano is feeling his age. For years, he has been faithful to his long-distance girlfriend Livia. But lately Montalbano has been much less — shall we say? — fastidious. Through the robberies, he meets the extremely beautiful and blonde Angelica Cosulich, who leaves Montalbano sorely tempted. Will Montalbano stay true? This interesting subplot provides yet another glimpse into the complicated police inspector.

This humorous and cleverly plotted novel — a mere 286 pages as a book or five-and-a-half hours as an Audible audiobook — will prove so riveting that you’ll find yourself ducking your responsibilities in order to finish it off.

[Ginny_1807 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Niente di apprezzabile in questa scialba avventura di Montalbano, ma soltanto una ovvietà di contenuti ed una ripetitività di motivi e di temi che finiscono per annoiare chi già conosce lo scrittore nelle sue prove più riuscite. Perfino il linguaggio caratteristico di questi romanzi, che tanto risultava vivace e innovativo nelle sue prime apparizioni, qui si rivela stanco, vuoto, quasi un patetico espediente virtuosistico volto a mascherare la sostanziale inconsistenza dell'insieme.
Personaggi scontati, che col passare del tempo non hanno subito alcuna evoluzione, se non verso penose velleità senili; situazioni, dialoghi e gag già serviti e digeriti in tutte le salse; pranzi e cene e libagioni e manicaretti regionali imbanditi al solo scopo di riempire le pause di un'azione già di per sé piuttosto statica.
Per non parlare della forzatura delle citazioni dall'Orlando furioso, quanto mai artificiose e raffazzonate con l'unico scopo di inventare un nobile pretesto per una storia insulsa.
Delusione totale.

[Helen French · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me 17 books to realise that dear old Inspector Montalbano is simply a bit of a filthy old man who enjoys salivating over pretty young things who would never be interested in him if it wasn't for his position of power.

The actual book is much the same as all the others: his colleagues have the same hilarious foibles as ever; the inspector worries about his faculties diminishing and takes long walks/eats everything/takes a dip in the ocean to recover. Until, at last, the solution to the crime falls into his head.

It's entertaining and easy to read but for the first time I thought ehhhhhh, don't cheat on your partner. Don't let your eyes wander to women who by all rights would not be interested in you if it wasn't for the fact you're an Inspector. Montalbano, just say no.

I'm not sure if I want to read any more, though I think I've already purchased the next couple along.

[David Dowdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrea Camilleri tells gorgeous and horrendous tales of Inspector Salvatore (Salvo) Montalbano’s police cases in Vigata, a fictitious city near Palermo Sicily. Every book stands alone and, after you’ve read Inspector Montalbano a few times, you feel like you know him.

Inspector Montalbano engages the reader with his quick thinking, humanity, and delectable enjoyment of life. Montalbano often gets to work at ten and comes home at ten but usually takes time to eat well at Enzo’s trattoria and get in a nice post-lunch walk down to the lighthouse where he thinks and digests his meal.

Montalbano is patient. He rushes only when a case requires quick work. He gets a little bit of work done as well. Montalbano may not be erudite, but he’s sensitive and dogged in his pursuit of the truth. He makes his own luck by piecing together facts about people and crimes he’s gathered over his long service (he’s fifty-eight in this book).

Salvatore is a lover who will never rid his mind of the young man’s first discovery of the species female. There is the usual running joke between Montalbano and his girlfriend Livia. Livia lives in Genoa on the Ligurian Sea. Their long-distance romance feeds the jealous thoughts of each. In Angelica’s Smile, there are hilarious scenes that build the back of the book on Salvo’s desires and his distrust of Livia.

By day Salvo works with the dependable Giuseppe Fazio and the incorrigibly, mispronouncing Catarella. At night Montalbano sits outside in the veranda that overlooks the sea and drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes while he ponders his latest case.

Camilleri tells stories mostly through short, to-the-point dialog. His third-person narration is spare and reserved for commentary (witty and comical), information, and stage directions. The pale pages turn quickly.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angelica’s Smile – Sunny Montalabano Mystery

I have an admission I love Inspector Montalabano since I first saw the subtitled Italian series, to reading the books, while the bad guys get caught you are able to salivate at the meals and laugh with and at Montalabano. Like many Brits I discovered the joys of Andrea Camilleri’s prose from those television episodes. The difference between the small screen and his books is the richness in the prose, the imagery of the beauty of Sicily oh and the food. Is it just me that likes to eat like Montalabano, the only thing the book does not have is the smells as it has everything else.

Angelica’s smile is the seventeenth book in the Montalabano series and it is another brilliant book for the reader to enjoy. We are treated to Montalabano at his best; contemptuous of his colleagues and Italian bureaucracy and plagued by bumbling Catarella, but dogged and determined to investigate the crimes while falling in lust with the beautiful Angelica Cosulich a victim of one of the crimes.

Montalabano is awoken by Catarella’s phone call to tell him there has been another ‘buggery’; once he has worked out it means burglary he tries to pass it off to his colleagues who are otherwise engaged. Under duress he gets up and goes to the crime scene to one of Vigata’s elite members of society. He finds that their other house as well as their Vigata house has been burgled and a list of expensive objects has been taken. One of the victims Angelica Cosulich is a beautiful woman who manages to dazzle Montalabano and make him feel young once again.

During the course of the investigation Montalabano is sure there is a connection between all the members of the elite that are being broken in to but he cannot see the link. Once he sees the link he is able to solve the burglaries and bring the book to its conclusion. Not before we have been to Enzo’s for quite a few excellent fish dishes and the food that his housekeeper cooks for him, especially his favourite Pasta ncasciata (baked pasta with aubergines, cheese and tomato sauce).

Angelica’s smile is an alluring evocative mystery novel that has humour, a sense of despair and the encounters with the beauty of Sicily. There is none of the violence that one would normally associate with Sicily and their families who usually only ever remain nothing more than footnotes in the series.

Andrea Camilleri is one of Italy’s most famous writers and it is a wonderful treat that his novels are translated in to English so that we too can enjoy his novel’s. Even in a mystery novel we are treated to the beauty and depths of Sicily with which you want to visit and eat. There is humour on every page even when there is despair which is resplendent in Sicily. The Montalabano series is an evocative story of Sicily and its tortured past and present and Camilleri is the narrator who brings this to life. Stunning, wonderful and beautiful.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The silver lining of reduced mobility of a painful back condition is the need to sit upright and rest up which allows me to read. No better book to read than an Inspector Montalbano mystery. Angelica's Smile is the seventeenth in the series that remains strong and original addressing crime in modern day Sicily.
The detective shares many of my traits. A love of food,a delight in books and the need for a coffee in the morning. He is of a similar age and is thinking about his advancing years and future retirement.
Where we differ is clearer for others to see; I admit that he is more desirable to women, but in my defense he is Italian.
This is a cracking good book where a mastermind appears to be getting the better of Montalbano through a series of burglaries which leave him clueless and in danger of public ridicule, hence his thoughts of retirement. However, in the course of the investigation he meets an attractive woman. She seems initially to make him regress to a besotted teenager and the story is about his struggle to understand himself as much as it is to solve the crime. This insight by Andrea Camilleri into his main character is what gives this set of books their humanity and realistic edge. Sufficient to take you out of your own reality and into a world where you taste the food and feel the chill of the sea as the Inspector dives into the water.
The greatest compliment I can pay these books is that where they have been translated into a TV series; the episode of this story is so faithful to its original format that you wonder what came first. The fact is, the writing is so vivid and imaginative that the words form pictures that last long after the final page.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

l sorriso di Angelica, bella “trintina” che al primo sguardo ricorda al commissario in maniera impressionante l’eroina dell’Orlando Furioso come lui la ricorda quando era studente e guardava di trafugo le illustrazioni del Dorè, illumina il mondo circostante. E Montalbano si dimostra debole e indifeso nei suoi confronti. Un Montalbano che invecchiando sembra tornare un adolescente alla sua prima infatuazione fatta di batticuore e vertigini. Ciò avrebbe potuto costituire un diversivo nelle vicende che si snodano con gli stessi personaggi (mancano Mimì Augello e la svedese Ingrid in questa nuova storia), che oramai conosciamo e di cui prevediamo ogni battuta: la solita Livia isterica e antipatica, il solito Catarella sgrammaticato e travisatore simpatico di nomi e cognomi, il solito Fazio con la mania dell’anagrafe, il solito trattore Enzo che cucina ottimi manicaretti…Ma a me il Montalbano sessualmente ammaliato dalla bella di turno non è piaciuto. Inoltre la storia gialla –l’indagine riguarda una serie di furti perfettamente organizzati e realizzati- non mi ha coinvolto nè convinto a fondo, alcuni particolari sono ripetuti dal precedente romanzo (le lettere anonime), il finale era parzialmente prevedibile. Ho avvertito poi, soprattutto nella parte finale, un’atmosfera malinconica come una cappa pesante che gravava nell’aria. Questa volta Camilleri mi ha deluso

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago, when I first heard that HBO decided that Detroit was a setting for a series featuring a male (heterosexual) prostitute, I thought "There? They've got to be kidding!" But, perhaps, they were onto something after all ...

We learn in this book that the main character, Angelica, keeps a love nest (let's say) for just such individuals in rural Sicily (as opposed to say, Rome or Florence). Following up on the burglary to her flat, Salvo asks if she's had any altercations lately, to which she responds, "Yes, one fellow demanded twice what I was willing to pay." Dear readers, she ends up getting Salvo for free. I know (first hand!) about testosterone clouding judgment and such, but getting involved with a suspect, half his age, was still a bit much. Then again, in an earlier book I believe he more-or-less ordered the married Fazio (whose son is his godson) to sleep with a suspect (more than once). I'm no prude, but this is all very strange, causing me to wonder about where the author is coming from. For what it's worth, Fazio seems to have almost a "bromance" crush on Salvo. I get him mixed up a bit with Augello (who is absent in this book), but I believe it was Fazio who saved Salvo's life earlier, as he'd been stalking ... I mean following him, so was on hand to call for help at a crucial moment.

I have finally come to the realization that Salvo and Livia will never be together, because ... he wants a female pal/mother figure; moreover, in a catty way he enjoys pitting Livia and his housekeeper Adelina against each other. Speaking of Adelina, I'm amazed she can cook those meals as well as clean house - she ought to making as much as Salvo! Back to Livia, she comes to visit him in most books, and I believe there's been mention of (rare, occasional) visits by him to her. But, no mention of their doing anything together, such as traveling to other countries, going to a play or movie, etc. They chat on the phone, they visit, they have sex, and they eat. Ho Hum.

I'm left wondering if Camilleri is such a loner that he can't give Salvo a life (you know, friends), because he doesn't know how? Don't get me wrong, I like stories for their setting, the food, the guys, etc. But, Salvo needs a therapist; I'm surprised Livia hasn't brought that up.

So, my blunt appraisal: read it for a Salvo fix, which you'll get, but on the merits I found I could've lived without it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you read every book in a series as extended as this one its a long term relationship where mutual flaws are forgiven the rosy glow of a reunited friendship. A young beautiful women falls in love with a 58 year old chain smoking food obsessed detective sure why not. A series of burglaries with a rather obvious end ach why not. The book delivers some marvellous misanthropy, the best coroner ever and the continued shenanigans of Italian civil service.

[Diogenis Papadopoulos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο Camilleri είναι από τους αγαπημένους μου και τα αστυνομικά του μυθιστορήματα είναι ό,τι πρέπει για το καλοκαίρι, γιατί είναι ανάλαφρα, έχουν σασπένς και μεσογειακό ταμπεραμέντο. "Το χαμόγελο της Αντζέλικα" δεν ξεφεύγει από την συνταγή. Αλλά για τις τελευταίες δυο τρεις γραμμές του βιβλίου, θα μπορούσα να του βάλω και 4 ...

[James Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Montalbano gets involved in a series of thefts and the mastermind behind the burglaries actually dares Montalbano to catch him. One of the victims of the crimes becomes a big infatuation for Montalbano and she actually shows him she is fancying him.
Yet something is not quite right and as Montalbano looks deeper into the matters surrounding this case he finds out what is the actual cause of this string of thefts and somebody is playing with his heartstrings.

Another case of Sicily, its people and habits, especially its cuisine once more pencilled by a man who is in the habit of delivering the best little stories and Montalbano who shall remain Sicily's answer to Maigret.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* for the book

I listened to the Grover Gardner audiobook, while periodically glancing at the Kindle edition's notes. Gardner is a marvellous narrator so I would give the audiobook edition a boost to 4*.

This entry in the series had a bit less about Montalbano's food (which was a shame as I love that part). He is struggling with aging & as he is about my age I can sympathize with that. However, I thought that the mystery part was not one of Camilleri's better efforts. Not bad but not as engrossing or puzzling as in some of the previous books.

[Camilla tra le righe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penso il volume che ho apprezzato meno finora.
Mi è sembrato ripetitivo, simile a un volume precedente che non nominerò per evitare spoiler.

Camilleri ti prego, basta con queste scappattelle di Montalbano con ragazze della metà dei suoi anni. Per quanto mi stia antipatica Livia a sto punto termina la loro relazione, perché ogni volta è un supplizio con questi tradimenti.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Las últimas novelas de Montalbano son tan parecidas entre sí que resultan indistinguibles y, por tanto, igualmente anodinas y olvidables.

La fórmula es siempre la misma: Montalbano hecho un mar de dudas, deprimido y enfadado a la vez por sentirse viejo (lleva así casi diez años, y aún no ha cumplido los sesenta); una investigación que no es sino un pretexto para enfrentar al comisario al hecho de que ya no es tan joven, es más torpe y razona lentamente, quizá deba jubilarse, etc. Sin embargo, su provecta edad no parece impedirle resultar terriblemente atractivo para mujeres hermosísimas, mucho más jóvenes que él, que caen rendidas a sus pies. Si bien en algún caso la cosa llega a mayores, siempre hay un motivo idiota por el que la relación no cuaja. Generalmente, porque la chica está implicada en el caso.

El resto de los elementos se repiten más que el ajo: sueños pseudoproféticos o visionarios de Montalbano que le acaban dando la clave del caso.Fazio, el único verdadero policía que hace que esa comisaría salga adelante, secundando a su jefe en sus cruzadas al margen de la ley. Augello, desaparecido en combate; parece que Camilleri no sabe ya qué hacer con él. Livia, apareciendo y desapareciendo como el Guadiana entre brotes de histeria y celos. Catarella confundiendo nombres y abriendo puertas de golpe por 3.764.782ª vez (que alguien avise al autor de que ya no tiene la misma gracia). Trama delictiva más o menos de parvulitos. Cartas anónimas del criminal para desafiar al comisario (caray, Camilleri, que esto ya lo usaste en la inmediatamente anterior, disimula un poco, deja pasar al menos dos novelas). En fin, al menos en ésta no ha metido elementos de snuff movie torpona, como en "La búsqueda del tesoro", y se deja leer.

Vamos, que es lo de siempre...desde hace ya unos cuantos libros. Y no me vale que me digan que Montalbano y, por extensión, la novela policíaca, son así, sota, caballo y rey, y que no le pida peras al olmo, porque es justo lo contrario. Yo a Camilleri le pido lo que me daba al principio: novelas bien construidas, ingeniosas, con tramas y subtramas en las que los personajes tenían más profundidad que un charco, humor, un retrato maravilloso de Sicilia, unos libros, en fin, que no serían El Quijote, pero no insultaban al lector. Eso le pedía a ese peral, las peras que siempre había dado. Y es él quien se empeña en darme unos higos pochos que le sobraban y, además, de mala gana.

Señor Camilleri, tiene usted una edad y una trayectoria en las que no tiene que demostrarle nada a nadie. Respete a su comisario, a sus lectores y a sí mismo y deje de ofrecernos esta mercancía averiada. Si no quiere o no puede darle a Montalbano un final digno, déjelo ya. No se ensañe. Creo que todos nos lo merecemos.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 17th novel featuring Chief Inspector Salvo Montalbano is a disappointment on two levels: first, it is about a series of clever robberies, where vacationing Vigatan's are knocked out by gas and their primary homes robbed, but not a murder; and second, Salvo is again falling in love with a much younger woman, this time a robbery victim, the extremely beautiful, blonde Angelica Cosulich. I hope #18 is better.

[Anna [Floanne] · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’è un che di “già sentito” in questa storia del commissario Montalbano: una bella ragazza che gli fa girare la testa, i dubbi e i dilemmi dell’età che avanza e un caso di molteplici furti da risolvere il cui mandante si indovina già quasi dall’inizio. Per fortuna il dialetto siciliano riesce sempre ad incantarmi come la prima volta e al maestro non posso negare meno di 3 stelle, ma l’impressione di minestra riscaldata, purtroppo, resta.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

By now y'all know how much I love this series. This installment was just as good as the first Montalbano story I read 16 books ago.
Salvatore is faced with some burglaries, pulled off in a very interesting way. As the investigation proceeds, Salvatore becomes infatuated with one one the victims and this can, and does, lead to problems for him, both personal, and professionally.
In true style, Inspector Montalbano gets his "flash" of thought to solve this mystery. And as usual, I always get a kick from poor Officer Catarella. I am looking forward to the next in this series.

[Juan de Dios Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ya he dicho antes que me gusta Camilleri y sus libros sobre el Comisario Montalbano y este es uno de los los que más me han gustado

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was substantially better than the previous two books in the series which were, frankly, unworthy of Camilleri and the Montalbano character. In this episode Montalbano is investigating a string of quite clever burglaries and meets a beautiful young woman who sweeps him off his feet and transports him back to his early youth, and reignites his childhood fantasies about the beautiful Angelica in Orlando Furioso. And as the novel progresses Montalbano recapitulates the highs and lows experienced by Orlando, but with the ever-present worry of being 58 years old and well past his prime.

The novel works well as a mystery: you have an inkling of who is responsible for the burglaries, but there's nothing really substantial to go on until near the end. And it works equally well as a vehicle for Camilleri to further develop the Montalbano character: a complex mixture of canny instinct, self-doubt, and self-delusion.

The usual cast of characters has been pared down to just Montalbano, Livia, Catarella, Dr. Pasquano, and Fazio. Augello, Galuzzo, and ... the other G guy ... are not to be seen. Not a huge loss, but I do hope to see them again.

In all, this episode ranks among the middle of the earlier novels in the series - a big step up from its recent predecessors.

[Valetta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mah, che dire... a mio modestissimo parere Camilleri ne ha piene la tasche di Montalbano e fatica a nasconderlo. Si sfoga come può, riversando la sua impagabile ironia nei numerosi siparietti comici di Catarella e nei salaci scambi di battute tra Montalbano e Augello, Fazio o di Dr Pasquano ma del suo ispettore non sa bene cosa farsene, tanto che a volte mi sembra lo maltratti proprio, riducendolo ad una macchietta.
Tra gli acciacchi dell'età, la costante amarezza e la sfilza di ventenni belle che più belle non si può a cui Montalbano non può far altro che morire dietro, l'impressione generale è che Camilleri voglia un po' mettere in ridicolo il suo ispettore che, ottenebrato dal fatto che il sangue gli è definitivamente sceso dal cervello alle parti basse, non si accorge di ciò che il lettore aveva capito già a pagina dieci.
La trama non è male, più curata del romanzo precedente ma comunque con un sapore di già sentito e una conclusione un po' raffazonata, si salva nel complesso grazie al solito stile mordace e ai dialoghi brillanti.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fan-Fiction

Ma come mai ultimamente i libri di Montalbano mi sembrano Fan Fiction di se stessi? Ripetitivi, triti e ritriti, sembrano scritti da persone differenti, che non si sono neanche messe d'accordo, ed utilizzano gli stessi cliché, come ad esempio le lettere anonime di Caccia al Tesoro e del Sorriso di Angelica...
Meno male che non mi tiro indietro davanti alla fan-fiction, ma da Camilleri mi aspetto qualcosa di mooolto più originale!

[Tien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes, I do wonder why I kept going with this series... but truly, it just had to be read under the right mood. There were times that I just found it so hilarious but other times, super annoying.

This particular instalment finds me somewhere in between. The opening was, I guess, rather funny. Montalbano and Livia are once again on a rocky footing although this could be all in Montalbano's mind as he is insistent on being so contrary! And later on, so hypocritical. At times, he acts as if he's half senile (he is complaining about old age and his brain not serving him the way it used to be) and a total curmudgeon but yet, at times, he can be so very compassionate and tender. A very flawed character, truly, but I guess that's the reason why he's so well loved by fans.

I really wished, sometimes, that this novel comes with a recipe or two because I'm hungry for some Italian food.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series by Andrea Camilleri. I usually choose to get them in audio format because the narrator does the voices so well, especially the hapless Catarella (" Cheef, Cheef") who staffs the reception desk at the police station and can be relied upon to get the messages wrong. As is usual we hear about the troubled relationship between Montalbano and his girlfriend who lives on the mainland and occasionally flies in to have yet another argument with him. Why are they still together? Purely to amuse us, I think. This crime novel does not start with a murder but rather with a series of complicated burglaries which Catarella pronounces "buggeries". It all adds to the fun.

[Laura Amicone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tanto disordine apre questa indagine di Montalbano: una sciarriatìna con Livia (l’ennesima) e tante case in subbuglio dopo una serie di furti. Ancora una donna nella vita del Commissario che è sempre più preda delle “vecchiaglie”. Una donna giovane e in carriera che non impedirà a Salvo e Fazio di scoprire un piano davvero enigmatico volto a vendicare vecchi trascorsi.
Un’indagine da 4 stelle nonostante si senta la mancanza di Mimì Augello, assente per un periodo di licenza!
Come sempre, consigliatissimo 🪐

[Marissa Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The coroner keeps telling Montalbano that he should retire, and I'm starting to think he's correct. Here Montalbano engages in gross misconducct and misses the obvious culprit.

And what's Livia’s job that has always been so important she's had to carry on this increasingly distant long-distance relationship? I do wish Camilleri had written some books about her life away from Montalbano, wherein she's a spy or something similar.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've now run out of the Inspector Montalbano books loaned by my good friend John. I enjoyed this last one as much as the others. But how on earth does Livia put up with the man????