Book - Rounding The Mark

Good read. Most brooding book so far in the series, though not as dark as Aurelio Zen. Camilleri's seriously outraged with the establishment and taking it out in this book. His disillusionment with the 'establishment' starts to reach a breaking point. The most character development yet, including his own physical limitations.

The police force's excessive use of force and frame-up job at the G8 summit gives law enforcement a black eye, which Montalbano takes as a personal affront to his own professional reputation. While he's taking his usual swim, he bumps into a corpse. In addition, he also crosses paths with a illegal immigrant boy whose behavior puzzles him. These two people intersect in the course of his investigation, thru a sordid world of human trafficking, to a 'blockbuster' kind of ending, which was a little letdown. Doesn't matter, though, excellent book overall.

Book - The Patience Of The Spider

Very ambivalent about this book. Can't decide whether I like it or not. Merits a second reading later.

It's definitely the most introspective one in the series, and departs significantly from previous books. For the first time, Montalbano's not solving a murder, but a kidnapping. And he's not really supposed to be solving anything. He's recovering from a gunshot wound, Livia's come to nurse him, and Mimi's taken over his duties temporarily. He's instead consulting with the investigative head.

His disillusionment is strongest in this work, as he tries to understand a hatred and revenge so naked that it overrode all other considerations.

Book - Voice of the Violin

Very good book. Well-thought out plot, story bit pedestrian but very tiny flaw. Entertaining read, just laugh-out-loud funny and so sad in places.

Woman is suffocated in her own home. Evidence of consensual sexual activity, and she's naked. Clothes nowhere to be found. Extremely odd. And how does a famous maestro recluse factor into it?

Book - The Snack Thief

Great book, but a wee bit confusing. Writing is absolutely delightful. A dream. One flaw is that it was so convoluted that he had to use the literary device of explaining the entire situation to the commissioner (us). That's weak. But I really didn't care, can be overlooked.

A Tunisian gets killed in a boat off international waters. Dispute over what happened and where. Some guy gets stabbed in elevator. Seemingly unrelated. Montalbano puts it together, rescuing a young boy along the way, whom Livia completely loses her heart for.

Book - The Terracotta Dog

GREAT book! What a sad story, but told with a good dose of humor, and not bogged down with moribund sentimentality. OMG, I laughed aloud several times. Acerbic wit flows from the pages, and I LOVE the sparse writing style. Brief, pointed but extremely evocative.

Book - The Shape of Water

Excellent book! Really fun and easy to read, quick, acerbic wit and fun tongue-in-cheek snappy lines. Translation little off, I could tell in places where the translation was word-for-word, and should have been given a different English phrase altogether, but minor quibbles - not enough to distract from the overall work.

Really liking the Montalbano character.