The Age of Doubt

Title: The Age of Doubt (Inspector Montalbano #14)

Author: Andrea Camilleri

Category: Mystery

Published: October 23, 2008

Rating: 2½ out of 5

Add: Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon | IndieBound | Book Depository

The day after a storm, Inspector Montalbano encounters a strange woman who expresses interest in a certain yacht scheduled to dock that afternoon. Not long after she’s gone, the yacht’s crew reports finding a disfigured corpse. Also at anchor is a luxury vessel with a somewhat shady crew. Both boats will have to stay in Vigàta until the investigation is over and, based on information from the woman, Montalbano begins to think the occupants of the yacht might know more about the man’s death than they’re letting on.

The Montalbano mysteries are funny and dark and full of food. Montalbano himself can be a jerk, but he’s amusing, intelligent but crass. The mystery here, who was the corpse and who killed him, was well-done, enough twists to keep me interested and a timely theme. The recurring secondary characters are a little cardboardish, but still likeable. Based on those things, I would rate this closer to a 4, probably.

The problem, and the reason this book had me complaining out loud – Laura. She works for the Harbor Office and Montalbano meets her during the investigation and sparks immediately fly, apparently. And he moons over her for the rest of the book. And she kisses him and then runs away. And he lies to his girlfriend. And she hugs him then turns cold. And so on, and so on. Once again, I was hoping for the female lead to end up being the killer – once again I was disappointed. This almost romance just killed the rest of the book for me.

Challenge: WAYR

Inspector Montalbano series

  1. The Shape of Water (Italian: La forma dell’acqua)
  2. The Terra-Cotta Dog (Italian: Il cane di terracotta)
  3. The Snack Thief (Italian: Il ladro di merendine)
  4. Voice of the Violin (Italian: La voce del violino)
  5. The Excursion to Tindari (Italian: La gita a Tindari )
  6. The Smell of the Night (APA: The Scent of the Night) (Italian: L’odore della notte)
  7. Rounding the Mark (Italian: Il giro di boa )
  8. The Patience of the Spider (Italian: La pazienza del ragno)
  9. The Paper Moon (Italian: La luna di carta)
  10. August Heat (Italian: La vampa d’agosto)
  11. The Wings of the Sphinx (Italian: Le ali della sfinge)
  12. The  Track of Sand (Italian: La pista di sabbia )
  13. The Potter’s Field (Italian: Il campo del vasaio)
  14. The Age of Doubt (Italian: L’età del dubbio)
  15. The Dance of the Seagull  (Italian: La danza del gabbiano)
  16. The Treaure Hunt (Italian: La caccia al tesoro)
  17. Angelica’s Smile (Italian: Il sorriso di Angelica)
  18. The Game of Mirrors (Italian: Il gioco degli specchi)
  19. A Blade of Light (Italian: Una  lama di luce)

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