Rounding the Mark

Inspector Montalbano was having yet another treacherous night; drifting, jolting awake and then lying back down, things had been weighing on his mind of late, mainly anger and disappointment. Livia his long time girlfriend had tried to pacify and focus him again but the current government revelation had brought things to the surface, Montalbano was feeling betrayed by the people he trusted most. False evidence had been planted against a group of political protesters in order to justify their detention but this wasn't coming from violent beat cops, the fabrications were from commissioners and vice-commissioners, inspectors and captains, Montalbano blood had now reached boiling point his decision had been made, he was ready to resign. Before turning in for work Montalbano needs to clear his head, he decides to take a long swim in the sea, it might be relaxing, lost in thought and all too late he had swam too far, beginning to struggle he flips on his back just to catch his breath. Shortly thereafter he accidentally bumps into another swimmer he apologises but was getting no reply he quickly discovers to his horror the body was actually a corpse. Later that week when the autopsy report comes back the death of the unidentified man was listed as an accidental drowning; Montalbano knew better, something about this floating body didn't feel right. With the body case chewing at his insides just to top his worst week Montalbano gets a call to take control of another boatload of illegal immigrants landing on their Sicilian shores. Montalbano sets about getting some organization in place, he notices a little African boy making a break from his family and gives chase; he takes the boy tightly by his hand and lively returns the boy to his mother the boy looks terrified. A few days later the same boy is caught in a hit and run accident, out of guilt Montalbano takes it upon himself to investigate. Within hours both cases turn into a web of coincidence this could only mean one thing...... his resignation was on the back burner. Andrea Camilleri has written a wonderful Montalbano mystery series, what I love about this series would be the charactisations and language the usage of dialogue in conversation it's all been kept real it's got sharp wit and ironic comic moments. The sly comments on Italian life and culture keep things amusing and interesting. Montalbano is just a fantastic leading character and for this book a very troubled soul his job begins to weigh him down can he fight corruption from all directions still when in doubt he quotes favourite authors' lines picking himself up from the gloom and his clearly well read. Women of all ages find Montalbano attractive, none more so than the beautiful Swede, Ingrid Sjostrom she's highly dangerous company for him and he knows it, she can get frisky, but in spite of much temptation he remains faithful to his long time girlfriend Livia who's happy to adjust her schedule and hop on the next plane to Pa

I've read them all....all the Montalbano mysteries by Andrea Camilleri that is, and Inspector Montalbano's penchant for justice, his appetite for homespun Sicilian cuisine, and his argument with the ever present absurdities and corruption of modern Italian/Sicilian life are exquisite. While his subject matter is often brutal I always feel that I'm in the company of a humanitarian champion. Camilleri makes me laugh out loud and I cheer him on with his wildly improbable plots because they take on the issues of the gravest importance. Child abduction and slavery, immigration, and bribery, are only a few of the issues that Camilleri tackles. If you're a mystery fan, Camilleri is not to be missed. I've read several of his books twice for the shear joy of the language. These mysteries are the best and the translations by Stephen Sartarelli are top notch. Go for it!

Rounding the Mark is a fabulous addition to the collection of mystery stories set in Sicily penned by the delightful Andrea Camilleri. The stories are topical and complicated and you get to know the characters so weel over the arc of the series that you feel like you know them, as if you could sit down and have an espresso with any of them in the small town of Vigata. This story is sad and deals in the corruption of human trafficking. No whitewashing here. Camilleri is nothingi if not brutally honest. His detectives are flawed, but also true to form. If you are familiar with life in Italy, the series is worthwhile. If you are not familiar with life in small town Sicily, don't fear, you will be comfortable soon. These books are popular in Italy as well as in the U.S. and have even been made into TV movies in Italy. Maybe we'll get lucky and someday those movies will be released here, but until then you have to be content to imagine what the characters look like and sound like. Camilleri gives you enough rich details that the characters walk off the pages.

this author is so good. One should read the whole series. What a wonderful combination of good food, great, great writing, mystery and scenery of Sicily. And did I mention humor? All of that in one small book.

Good "beach reading" - fast-paced, yet also very descriptive of place and local foods. Characters are often amusing. Scenes change quickly, which one might need to get used to, but once done, Camilleri is very fun to read. Lead detective, Montalbane, is very likable, a distant "cousin" of Columbo.