Inspector Montalbano mysteries – serie

A troubling murder investigation may see Montalbano find his answers on a theatre's stage in The Sicilian Method, Andrea Camilleri's twenty-sixth novel in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series.'Even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today' – The GuardianMimi Augello is visiting his lover when the woman's husband unexpectedly returns to the apartment. Hurriedly he climbs out the window and into the downstairs apartment – but finds himself swinging from one danger to another. In the dark, he sees a body lying on the bed.Shortly afterwards another body is found, and the victim is Carmelo Catalanotti. A director of bourgeois dramas, he had a harsh reputation for the methods he developed for his actors: digging into their complexes to unleash their talent, a traumatic experience for all.Are the two deaths connected? Catalanotti scrupulously kept notes and comments on all the actors he worked with – as well as strange notebooks full of figures, dates and names.Inspector Montalbano finds all of Catalanotti's dossiers and plays, the notes on the characters and the notes on his final drama, Dangerous Turn. Indeed, it is in the theatre where he feels the solution lies . . .'One of fiction’s greatest detectives' – Daily Mail

Set on the coast of Sicily, The Safety Net is the twenty-fifth novel in the bestselling Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.***Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series***Vigàta is bustling as the new filming location for a Swedish television series set in 1950. In the production frenzy, the director asks the locals to track down movies and vintage photos to faithfully recreate the air of Vigàta at that time. Meanwhile, Montalbano is grappling with a double mystery, one that emerges from the past and another that leads him into the future . . .Engineer Ernesto Sabatello, rummaging in the attic of his house, finds some films shot by his father between 1958 and 1963, always on the same day, 27th March, and always the same shot: the outside wall of a country house. Montalbano hears the story and, intrigued, begins to investigate its meaning. Meanwhile, a middle school is threatened by a group of armed men, and a closer look at the case finds Montalbano looking into the students themselves and delving into the world of social media.

Never has Inspector Montalbano's character – a unique blend of humor, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food - been more compelling than in Andrea Camilleri's third Montalbano novel, The Snack Thief. When an elderly man is stabbed to death in an elevator and a crewman on an Italian fishing trawler is machine-gunned by a Tunisian patrol boat off Sicily’s coast, only Inspector Montalbano suspects a link between the two incidents.His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished house-cleaner, whose young son steals other school children’s mid-morning snacks. But Karima disappears, and the young snack thief’s life – as well as Montalbano’s – is endangered when the inspector exposes a viper’s nest of government corruption and international intrigue.The Snack Thief is followed by the fourth Inspector Montalbano novel, The Voice of the Violin.

Set in Sicily, The Terracotta Dog is the second novel in the humorous Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.*Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series*After a cloak and dagger exchange with an ageing Mafioso, Inspector Montalbano is left haunted by the man’s dying words, which lead him to a mountainside just west of Vigàta where he unearths two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terracotta dog.Heedless of personal danger, Montalbano’s drive to solve this old crime forces him on a journey through Sicily’s World War II history and to the dark heart of one family . . .The Terracotta Dog is followed by the third title in this satirical series, The Snack Thief.

The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri is the fourth novel in the wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.The commissioner kept looking at him with an expression that combined contempt and commiseration, apparently discerning unmistakable signs of senile dementia in the inspector. "I'm going to speak very frankly, Montalbano. I don't have a very high opinion of you." "Nor I of you," the inspector replied bluntly.Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; an antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna, whose charms Montalbano cannot help but appreciate. But it is a mysterious, reclusive violinist who holds the key to this murder . . .The Voice of the Violin is followed by the fifth novel in this compelling mystery series, Excursion to Tindari.

Rounding the Mark is the seventh darkly humorous novel in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.Increasingly disillusioned with his government and the world in general, Inspector Montalbano is considering retirement. He is starting to feel his age, and even his favourite restaurant has closed. But when he bumps into a dead body during a bracing swim, his detective instincts are aroused once more. Particularly when the most likely identity of the victim is a man already long buried . . .Rounding the Mark is followed by the eighth novel in the series The Patience of the Spider.

Angelica's Smile is the seventeenth novel in the gripping and darkly funny Inspector Montalbano mysteries by Andrea Camilleri.When members of Vigàta's elite are targeted in a series of perfectly executed burglaries, Inspector Montalbano reluctantly takes the case. It soon becomes clear however that more links these privileged few than simply their lost possessions . . . It isn't long too before Montalbano finds himself taken with one of the victims, the captivatingly beautiful young Angelica. But as the detective's attraction grows - until he can think of little else – a series of strange, anonymous letters claiming responsibility for the thefts begin to arrive . . .With the allure of Angelica beginning to consume him and his relationship with Livia under threat, Montalbano must focus his mind to solve this perplexing investigation before events spiral out of all control.Angelica's Smile is followed by the eighteenth book in the Sicilian mystery series, Game of Mirrors.

The Pyramid of Mud is the twenty-second Montalbano mystery from Italy’s finest crime writer, Andrea Camilleri.It’s been raining for days in Vigàta, and the persistent downpours have led to violent floods overwhelming the Inspector’s beloved hometown, sweeping across the land and leaving only a sea of mud behind. It is on one of these endless grey days that a man – a Mr Giuglù Nicotra – is found dead, his body discovered in a large sewage tunnel, half naked and with a bullet in his back. The investigation is slow and slippery to start with, but when Montalbano realizes that every clue he uncovers and every person he interviews is leading to the same place – the world of public spending and, with it, the Mafia – the case begins to pick up pace.But there’s one question that keeps playing on Montalbano’s mind: in his strange and untimely death, was Giuglù Nicotra trying to tell him something?The Pyramid of Mud is followed by the twenty-third gripping Montalbano mystery, The Overnight Kidnapper.

The Cook of the Halcyon is the penultimate novel in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series from the master of Sicilian crime, Andrea Camilleri.Moments later the all-white schooner, which looked like a hospital ship, began to pass ever so slowly before him, as if wanting to show itself off in all its beauty. The name on the prow said: Halcyon.Two deaths – the suicide of a recently fired worker and the murder of an unscrupulous businessman – lead Inspector Montalbano to the Halcyon, a mysterious ship that visits Vigàta’s port each day. With very few crewmen, no passengers, and a stern large enough to land a helicopter, it piques the Inspector’s interest straight away.In the midst of this, a rare trip to Genoa to visit Livia ends with the Vigàta police department in disarray, and Inspector Montalbano’s position as the head of the commissariat in jeopardy. It will be up to Montalbano to fix the damage done.

The Other End of the Line is the twenty-fourth darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano mystery from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri.In Inspector Montalbano’s coastal town of Vigàta, a surge of migrants have been coming in by boat, and all the town’s hands are on deck to help the arrivals. At the heart of the scene are the police – on the lookout for the people smugglers responsible – and long night-shifts are rendering Inspector Montalbano and his officers exhausted.Then one night, while Montalbano is enduring yet another gruelling stint at the port, a separate crime is committed – unexplained, unexpected, and unpleasant. Elena, the dressmaker at the town’s famous tailors, has been found dead – slaughtered by her own scissors . . . As a swell of desperate people arrive in search of a better life, Inspector Montalbano finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the dressmaker. But as he makes his enquiries, the Inspector can’t help but wonder: what will happen if he keeps tugging on this thread? And what will he find at the end of the line?

The Patience of the Spider is the eighth novel in Andrea Camilleri's wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.Chief Inspector Montalbano is on enforced sick leave. But when a local girl goes mysteriously missing, the whole community takes an interest in the case. Why are the kidnappers so sure that the girl's impoverished father and dying mother will be able to find a fortune? The ever-inquisitive Montalbano steps in, to get to the heart of the matter in his own inimitable style.The Patience of the Spider is followed by the ninth novel in the series, Paper Moon.

Andrea Camilleri's sensational and darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano series continues in the fourteenth instalment, The Age of Doubt.A chance encounter with a strange young woman leads Inspector Montalbano to Vigàta harbour – and into a puzzling new mystery. The crew of a mysterious yacht – the Vanna – due to dock in the area has discovered a corpse floating in the water, the dead man's face badly disfigured. It isn't long before Montalbano becomes suspicious of the Vanna's inhabitants. Who is the yacht's owner, the glamorous and short-tempered Livia Giovannini? How has she accrued her riches? And why does she spend so much time at sea?Meanwhile Montalbano finds himself getting into tangles with the dreaded Commissioner, the exasperating Dr Lattes and a very beautiful young woman at the harbour, with whom he becomes dangerously besotted . . . Can the Inspector clear his head long enough to unravel this murky mystery?The Age of Doubt is followed by The Dance of the Seagull, the fifteenth book in the series.'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday Times

Blade of Light is the nineteenth gripping addition to the phenomenally successful Inspector Montalbano Sicilian mysteries by Andrea Camilleri.When a gentleman arrives at Montalbano's police station to report an armed robbery on his wife that ended with a kiss, the inspector's suspicions are aroused.As he delves deeper into the case, Montalbano finds that none of the witnesses' stories are adding up, and he can't help but feel that they're not meant to. When a body turns up showing all the signs of a mafia hit, the inspector knows he must excavate the truth from what he is being led to believe.Meanwhile there's a case that keeps winding its way back to Montalbano's office. A locked door has suddenly appeared on a farmer's disused shed, and then, just as quickly, the door disappears. The anti-terrorist police soon intervene, but why are they so keen to keep this away from the inspector? And why does he sense that this case is connected to him somehow?With deceit at every turn and a distraction of the heart taking over his head, Inspector Montalbano must focus if he is ever going to solve this mystery.Blade of Light is followed by the twentieth book in the Sicilian mystery series, A Voice in the Night.

The Shape of Water is the first in Andrea Camilleri's wry, brilliantly compelling Sicilian crime series, featuring Inspector Montalbano. When the body of respected and prominent engineer is discovered in the Pasture, a rubbish-strewn site brimming with drug dealers and prostitutes, the coroner’s verdict is death from natural causes – refreshingly unusual for Sicily.But Inspector Salvo Montalbano of the Vigàta police force (as honest as he is streetwise, and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims) is not ready to close the case, despite pressure from Vigàta’s police chief, judge, and bishop.Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, carefully planted false clues, trigger-happy Mafia members, and delicious Sicilian fare, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter.The Shape of Water is followed by the second in this bestselling series, The Terracotta Dog.

The Scent of the Night is the sixth comic detective novel in the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.Montalbano learned how hard it was to put on a wetsuit while in a dinghy speeding over a sea that wasn't exactly calm. Mimì, at the helm, looked tense and worried."Getting seasick?" the inspector asked him at one point."No. Just sick of myself.""Why?""Because every now and then I realize what a stupid shit I am to go along with some of your brilliant ideas."When an angry octogenarian holds a terrified and lovelorn secretary at gunpoint, Inspector Montalbano is reluctantly drawn into the case. The secretary's boss, a financial advisor, has vanished along with several billion lire entrusted to him by the good citizens of Vigàta. Also missing is the advisor's young colleague, whose uncle just happens to be building a house on the site of Inspector Montalbano's very favourite olive tree . . .Ably abetted by his loyal and eccentric team, Montalbano, the food-loving, commitment-phobic inspector, returns for another delicious investigation served up in vintage Camilleri style.The Scent of the Night is followed by the seventh book in the series, Rounding the Mark.

The Patience of the Spider is the eighth novel in Andrea Camilleri's wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.Chief Inspector Montalbano is on enforced sick leave. But when a local girl goes mysteriously missing, the whole community takes an interest in the case. Why are the kidnappers so sure that the girl's impoverished father and dying mother will be able to find a fortune? The ever-inquisitive Montalbano steps in, to get to the heart of the matter in his own inimitable style.The Patience of the Spider is followed by the ninth novel in the series, Paper Moon.

Paper Moon is the thrilling ninth instalment in the warm and witty Inspector Montalbano series, by Italian author Andrea Camilleri.As he gets older, Inspector Montalbano is plagued by existential questions. But he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man – shot in the face at point-blank range with his pants down – commands his attention.Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, dirty cocaine, dead politicians, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigàta . . .Paper Moon is followed by the tenth book in the Sicilian crime series, August Heat.'Montalbano's colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction' – Guardian

Rounding the Mark is the seventh darkly humorous novel in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.Increasingly disillusioned with his government and the world in general, Inspector Montalbano is considering retirement. He is starting to feel his age, and even his favourite restaurant has closed. But when he bumps into a dead body during a bracing swim, his detective instincts are aroused once more. Particularly when the most likely identity of the victim is a man already long buried . . .Rounding the Mark is followed by the eighth novel in the series The Patience of the Spider.

Never has Inspector Montalbano's character – a unique blend of humor, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food - been more compelling than in Andrea Camilleri's third Montalbano novel, The Snack Thief. When an elderly man is stabbed to death in an elevator and a crewman on an Italian fishing trawler is machine-gunned by a Tunisian patrol boat off Sicily’s coast, only Inspector Montalbano suspects a link between the two incidents.His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished house-cleaner, whose young son steals other school children’s mid-morning snacks. But Karima disappears, and the young snack thief’s life – as well as Montalbano’s – is endangered when the inspector exposes a viper’s nest of government corruption and international intrigue.The Snack Thief is followed by the fourth Inspector Montalbano novel, The Voice of the Violin.

The Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri is the fourth novel in the wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.The commissioner kept looking at him with an expression that combined contempt and commiseration, apparently discerning unmistakable signs of senile dementia in the inspector. "I'm going to speak very frankly, Montalbano. I don't have a very high opinion of you." "Nor I of you," the inspector replied bluntly.Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; an antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna, whose charms Montalbano cannot help but appreciate. But it is a mysterious, reclusive violinist who holds the key to this murder . . .The Voice of the Violin is followed by the fifth novel in this compelling mystery series, Excursion to Tindari.

Set in Sicily, The Terracotta Dog is the second novel in the humorous Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.*Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series*After a cloak and dagger exchange with an ageing Mafioso, Inspector Montalbano is left haunted by the man’s dying words, which lead him to a mountainside just west of Vigàta where he unearths two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terracotta dog.Heedless of personal danger, Montalbano’s drive to solve this old crime forces him on a journey through Sicily’s World War II history and to the dark heart of one family . . .The Terracotta Dog is followed by the third title in this satirical series, The Snack Thief.

The Scent of the Night is the sixth comic detective novel in the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.Montalbano learned how hard it was to put on a wetsuit while in a dinghy speeding over a sea that wasn't exactly calm. Mimì, at the helm, looked tense and worried."Getting seasick?" the inspector asked him at one point."No. Just sick of myself.""Why?""Because every now and then I realize what a stupid shit I am to go along with some of your brilliant ideas."When an angry octogenarian holds a terrified and lovelorn secretary at gunpoint, Inspector Montalbano is reluctantly drawn into the case. The secretary's boss, a financial advisor, has vanished along with several billion lire entrusted to him by the good citizens of Vigàta. Also missing is the advisor's young colleague, whose uncle just happens to be building a house on the site of Inspector Montalbano's very favourite olive tree . . .Ably abetted by his loyal and eccentric team, Montalbano, the food-loving, commitment-phobic inspector, returns for another delicious investigation served up in vintage Camilleri style.The Scent of the Night is followed by the seventh book in the series, Rounding the Mark.

The fifth in the hit Italian crime series by Andrea Camilleri, Excursion to Tindari is a darkly comic detective story featuring Inspector Montalbano.Maybe a phrase, a line, a hint somewhere would reveal a reason, any reason, for the elderly couple's disappearance . . .A young Don Juan is found murdered in front of his apartment building early one morning, and an elderly couple is reported missing after an excursion to the ancient site of Tindari – two seemingly unrelated cases for Inspector Montalbano to solve amid the daily complications of life at Vigàta police headquarters.But when Montalbano discovers that the couple and the murdered young man lived in the same building, his investigation stumbles onto Sicily's brutal 'New Mafia', which leads him down a path more evil and more far-reaching than any he has been down before.Excursion to Tindari is followed by the sixth novel in the Inspector Montalbano series, The Scent of the Night.

The Shape of Water is the first in Andrea Camilleri's wry, brilliantly compelling Sicilian crime series, featuring Inspector Montalbano. When the body of respected and prominent engineer is discovered in the Pasture, a rubbish-strewn site brimming with drug dealers and prostitutes, the coroner’s verdict is death from natural causes – refreshingly unusual for Sicily.But Inspector Salvo Montalbano of the Vigàta police force (as honest as he is streetwise, and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims) is not ready to close the case, despite pressure from Vigàta’s police chief, judge, and bishop.Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, carefully planted false clues, trigger-happy Mafia members, and delicious Sicilian fare, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter.The Shape of Water is followed by the second in this bestselling series, The Terracotta Dog.

August Heat by Andrea Camilleri is the tenth installment in the Inspector Montalbano series, now adapted as a major BBC4 television series. The lazy, slow month of August at the height of the Sicilian summer is, Inspector Montalbano assures his girlfriend Livia as they prepare for a relaxing holiday in a villa he has found for them, far too hot for any murders to be committed. But when Livia's friends' young son goes missing, a chain of events is sparked which will certainly ruin the Chief Inspector's pleasant interlude.A secret apartment and a grisly find in an old trunk are just the beginning, as Montalbano navigates his way through the case, as well as coping with the sweltering heat, the suspicious death of an Arab labourer and the tempting lure of a beautiful girl . . .August Heat is followed by the eleventh book in the series, The Wings of the Sphinx.

The Wings of the Sphinx is the eleventh book in the wickedly funny Inspector Montalbano series by Italian author, Andrea Camilleri.Things are not going well for Inspector Montalbano. His long-distance relationship with Livia is on the rocks, he feels himself getting even older and he's growing tired of the violence in his job.Then the dead body of a young woman is found in an illegal dump, with half her face missing. Her identity at first unknown; a tattoo of a sphinx moth on her left shoulder links her with three other girls bearing the same mark, all recent Russian immigrants to Italy. Victims of an underworld sex trade, these girls have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a Catholic charity organization. The problem is, the other girls can't help Montalbano with his enquiries. They are all missing.As his investigations progresses, it seems that not everyone wants Montalbano to discover what really lies behind the organization's charitable façade. And not only does Montalbano have a case to solve, he has a demanding stomach to feed, and he must save his foundering relationship with Livia . . .The Wings of the Sphinx is followed by the twelfth gripping mystery, The Track of Sand.

The Track of Sand is Andrea Camilleri's twelfth outing in the wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.Inspector Montalbano rises one morning to find the carcass of a horse on the beach in front of his seaside home. But no sooner do his men arrive, than the body has mysteriously vanished, leaving only a track in the sand. Before long Rachele, a beguiling equestrian champion, turns up at police headquarters to report her horse missing. The horse had been stabled at the grounds of a certain Saverio Lo Duca, one of the richest men in Sicily. Lo Duca has lost one of his own horses too.Montalbano, his curiosity piqued, investigates, but before long things take a more disturbing turn . . . But who has Montalbano upset within this strange, unfamiliar world of horse-racing? And what has the Mafia to do with it all?The Track of Sand is followed by the thirteenth novel in the series, The Potter's Field.

From the Italian crime legend, Andrea Camilleri, comes The Potter's Field, winner of the CWA International Dagger Award and the thirteenth instalment in the Inspector Montalbano series.While Vigàta is wracked by storms, Inspector Montalbano is called to attend the discovery of a dismembered body in a field of clay. Bearing all the marks of an execution style killing, it seems clear that this is, once again, the work of the notorious local mafia. But who is the victim? Why was the body divided into thirty pieces? And what is the significance of the Potter's Field?Working to decipher these clues, Montalbano must also confront the strange and difficult behaviour exhibited by his old colleague Mimi, and avoid the distraction of the enchanting Dolores Alfano – who seeks the inspector's help in locating her missing husband. But like the Potter's Field itself, Montalbano is on treacherous ground and only one thing is certain – nothing is quite as it seems . . .'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday TimesThe Potter's Field is followed by The Age of Doubt, the fourteenth in the series.

Andrea Camilleri's sensational and darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano series continues in the fourteenth instalment, The Age of Doubt.A chance encounter with a strange young woman leads Inspector Montalbano to Vigàta harbour – and into a puzzling new mystery. The crew of a mysterious yacht – the Vanna – due to dock in the area has discovered a corpse floating in the water, the dead man's face badly disfigured. It isn't long before Montalbano becomes suspicious of the Vanna's inhabitants. Who is the yacht's owner, the glamorous and short-tempered Livia Giovannini? How has she accrued her riches? And why does she spend so much time at sea?Meanwhile Montalbano finds himself getting into tangles with the dreaded Commissioner, the exasperating Dr Lattes and a very beautiful young woman at the harbour, with whom he becomes dangerously besotted . . . Can the Inspector clear his head long enough to unravel this murky mystery?The Age of Doubt is followed by The Dance of the Seagull, the fifteenth book in the series.'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday Times