Excursion to Tindari

The audio is so much better than me imagining the Italian voices in the mystery. A “3” because his stories are good; not great—think a cozy read.

Inspector Montalbano buried his head in his pillow, eyes held tightly shut hoping the sound of the telephone being muffled would eventually stop, he knew he should have pulled the plug last night, at this hour it could only mean one thing; trouble. Montalbano is quickly informed somebody had been killed; the address given was Via Cavour 44. Vigàta, a young man just coming home early hours, puts his keys in the front door then (Zap) a single shot to the face and that's where they left him, sprawling on the pavement. Davide Griffo had shown up at the police station pretty worked up and looking to speak with Inspector Montalbano, Montalbano agrees to this unscheduled meeting if only to quieten down the noise. Griffo was very worried he had travelled from Messina to look for his parents, he was extremely perplexed his parents were old and had never been outside Vigàta, but out of the blue they decided to go on an Excursion to Tindari and he had not heard from them since. Montalbano would have passed the missing persons case straight on if it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Griffo said that his parents' home address was Via Cavour 44. Montalbano third unexpected and annoying moment was an early morning call from Orazio Guttadauro the Mafia's favourite Lawyer. Guttadauro informs him that Don Balduccio Sinagra although in his nineties was still head of one of the two biggest families and was still in excellent health and wondered if Montalbano could stop by for a polite discussion with him sometime soon. Great just what Montalbano needed, a nice friendly chat with the opposition and another link for him to be lead up one more twisted path, where was this all leading? Andrea Camilleri has written a wonderful Montalbano Mystery series, this book is the fifth in the series and again he doesn't disappoint. What I love about this whole series would be the characterisation and language the usage of dialogue in conversation it's all been kept real it's got it sharp wit and ironic comedy moments, the sly comments on Italian life and culture keeps things amusing and interesting. Also for me the passion for great flavoured food, all the dishes in these books are mouthwatering and endless. Camilleri has done wonders with the character Inspector Salvo Montalbano especially in this one, showing his cynical, realist side, Montalbano does not treat organised crime lightly, in this fictional town of Vigàta the police realise they cannot defeat the Mafiosi but they do try to co-exist with them, they want to minimise the damage that they cause, this might hold them in good stead to confront the more violent and ruthless New Generation Mafia. All Characters in these books are very funny and well written; the description of the wonderful chaotic police station is hilarious, especially the character Catarella (Cat) his dialogue in this and others just has me in stitches. The whole series has a timeless feel about them and they clearly deserve to be read from the begin

Andrea Camilleri has created a vastly interesting detective series with two lead characters--Inspector Salvo Montalbano and Sicily. These books are always at least half about the cultural and political life and mores of the island. "Excursion to Tindari" is a good example of this dual purpose story, happening to have a particularly good mystery as its chassis. No reason to get into the plot here. Suffice it to say that the storyline moves along swiftly as Montalbano pokes and prods to solve a particularly brutal murder of a couple of senior citizens. With a story set in Sicily, author Camilleri could easily fall back frequently on the Mafia as his villain. He rarely takes this predictable route and his mysteries are always the better for that choice. One other thing worth noting here is that Camilleri's Italian-in-the-original stories are beautiful translated. He's lucky to have such a good collaborator. I would recommend this whole series to anyone who likes good mystery writing and or is interested in Sicily/Italy.

As someone who only reads a few mystery novels a year, I was overwhelmed to discover both Andrea Camilleri and Donna Leon at about the same time. Camilleri's Inspector Salvo Montalbano stories and Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti novels are so good that I wanted to read them all and was delighted to find that both authors have written at least a dozen books each. Only five or six of Camilleri's have been translated into English from the original Italian so far, but more are on the way. And many of Leon's are out of print in the U.S., but perhaps that will change in the near future. These are compelling mysteries that draw you right in and keep you hooked right up to the satisfying, if not always happy, conclusions. But that almost goes without saying. What keeps you coming back for more are the characters and the extras, in this case, the backdrops of Sicily and Venice. Stephen Sartarelli's translations of the Camilleri books are marvelous. It isn't hard to translate a book, but it is difficult to do well. He strikes the perfect balance of translating most things, but turning to explanation when translating would destroy the mood. There are a few pages of explanations at the end of each book, describing pastas and exchange rates and cultural references. For instance, he translates education-impaired cop Catarella's rough speech into something Brooklyn-esque, but he explains Boghonghi the Dwarf, apparently a famous character to most Italians, but not to Americans. (Example of a bad translation -- I remember seeing a dubbed version of the French movie A Man and a Woman that completely destroyed the romantic mood when they replaced the Edith Piaf song playing on the car radio in the original version with a dubbed ragtime tune.) I can't say which series is better, I tend to think that whichever I am reading at the moment is my favorite.

I wait anxiously for each new translation (Stephen Sartarelli is peerless, but I may have to give up waiting and just learn Italian). Excursion to Tindari has everything I savor in the Inspector Montalbano stories: a cynical but loving view of humanity, startling and unique characters captured with just a few brushstrokes, a great puzzle that unfolds in an honest narration ... fantastic food, and just a tease of both Livia and Ingrid. Poetry, memory and imagination twisted together. I try to make myself read slowly, while dying to know what's on the next page. At least when I read too fast, I can start over again sooner.