August Heat: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery by Andrea Camilleri
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Book Reviews of August Heat: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery
Book Review: THE HEAT IS ON
Summary: 4 Stars
In this mystery the venerable A. Camilleri stuck his photo right up front, instead of in the back. So you have to get past an old, paunchy man( with a coffin nail dangling from his lip) guarding the novel like Cerberus guards Hades. I guess this is someones idea of attractive. Anyway, we find our hero aging in the Sicilian summer heat. His formidable deductive powers are slipping. His relationship with his long-time girlfriend Livia is on the rocks. The August heat is so oppressive Montabalno's clothes stick to his back like his shoes stick to the hot pavement. This is as close as I can get to Sicily without getting a passport. As usual Camilleri adroitly captures the essence of maffiosi, bureaucratic layers of overlapping police jurisdictions, serpentine inter-twining of political and maffia corruption.
The plot hums along nicely. Montabalno, the aging protaginist, is tempted by big lunches and a young hottie. He gives in to seduction by a young siren and his usual wolfish appetite for food.
Alas, he comes to realize he is an old fool who has been used; and, his deductive powers are slipping. This plot rings true.
Once again I have enjoyed my brief soujourn to Sicily sans the 12 hour flight.
Book Review: downstairs house
Summary: 4 Stars
This Camilleri mystery may not be the place to start for those just arriving on the scene because the investigation is a darker one, involving a murdered adolescent, and because Montalbano himself makes some decisions that serial readers will consider surprising but newer readers may not appreciate as shockingly anomalous. Camilleri does not disappoint. We readers continue our education in Sicilian manners and mannerisms, this time with an emphasis on building codes and almost unendurable summer heat. Montalbano enjoys a couple of good meals, defies bureaucracy, drinks whisky, repeatedly swims into the ever more polluted sea, and, in spite of his best intentions, continues to flounder in his romantic life with long-time love Livia. The murder case itself is unraveled precipitously close to the conclusion of the book but there is further excitement at the end here since the ramifications of Inspector Montalbano's behavior, only in part attributable to his aging, must certainly be dealt with in the next account of this wholly pleasing series.Book Review: Perplexing Case
Summary: 4 Stars
The Sicilian Inspector Salvo Montalbano likes to eat, but the sweltering August heat, for the most part, keeps him mainly sticking to cold dishes. His girlfriend, Livia, pressures him to find a seaside house in which she and her friend Laura, her husband and son, can spend a two-week vacation. Oh, he does as he's told.
Unfortunately, the vacation is ruined when the boy disappears. Salvo finds him in an illegal apartment beneath the house. Moreover, he discovers a corpse. It turns out the victim was a beautiful 15-year-old girl, who was apparently murdered six years before. And there is no shortage of possible culprits, leading Montalbano on a perplexing investigation.
The series in as interesting for its observations as Montalbano is for his philosophical musings and humorous asides. The characters are well-drawn. The translation, once again, is superb, and the book is recommended.
Book Review: The Warmth of August Heat
Summary: 4 Stars
August Heat is another good book in the Inspector Montlabano series and author Andrea Camilleri doesn't disappoint. This one, like the others, are quick and often entertaining reads. Is it really darker than the others? Well, that's for you to decide or does Camilleri just draw you into more of Montalbano's life, loves, and losses?
Camilleri even goes a littel green when it comes to how vacationers leave the beach. As I said quick and entertaining and with more depth than we find in other popular authors.
Give it a read.
Book Review: another amazing experience
Summary: 4 Stars
this book was a little different from the others in this series but just as captivating, we see Montalbano in a somewhat different light. Those who love this character may find themselves whispering "don't do this". It has an emotional and not unexpected end. This book did not disappoint.