The Terra Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
The Terra Cotta Dog is an Italian murder mystery translated into English. This series, featuring dogged detective Montalbano, was turned into an Italian TV series.
I'll admit that I thought this book started off a little slowly. But it got such rave reviews in my local newspaper that I decided to stick with it. And it did turn into an engrossing story. The premise is this: While working on another investigation, Montalbano comes across a cave in which he finds 2 corpses embracing each other, watched over by a terra cotta dog. It turns out they've been in the cave since World War 2, which makes identifying the victims kind of a challenge. But Montalbano is nothing if not persistent and he eventually does figure out who, what, and why. The Sicilian setting makes this series stand out.
I'm used to the more charming Inspector Bruno from the Martin Walker series. Inspector Montalbano is not quite so warm and fuzzy. But he does have an interesting array of friends to call on when he needs a hand. I particularly liked his beautiful friend Brigid, the car mechanic.
I'll admit that I thought this book started off a little slowly. But it got such rave reviews in my local newspaper that I decided to stick with it. And it did turn into an engrossing story. The premise is this: While working on another investigation, Montalbano comes across a cave in which he finds 2 corpses embracing each other, watched over by a terra cotta dog. It turns out they've been in the cave since World War 2, which makes identifying the victims kind of a challenge. But Montalbano is nothing if not persistent and he eventually does figure out who, what, and why. The Sicilian setting makes this series stand out.
I'm used to the more charming Inspector Bruno from the Martin Walker series. Inspector Montalbano is not quite so warm and fuzzy. But he does have an interesting array of friends to call on when he needs a hand. I particularly liked his beautiful friend Brigid, the car mechanic.
Comments
Post a Comment