I've been reading the Commissario Montalbano out-of-order over the last few years. I enjoy them but not enough to go out of my way to read them. Most I've picked up on audio from the library when they've been available.
I like Montalbano. He's amusing in a crass way. He's as interested in literature and food as he is catching criminals. He can be philosophical one moment and wise-cracking the next. He cynical, but also has a soft side. He can be tough as nails, but the idea of a promotion or talking in front of the media terrifies him.
This time around we've got two things going. There's a Mafia gun situation and the mystery of the two people killed 50 years ago. I like that both get solved. The current mystery needs to be dealt with, but the older one captures Montalbano's imagination.
The secondary characters are well-developed, even those that end up dead.
The mysteries were well done. The present day situation had well-placed...
Title: Angelica's Smile (Inspector Montalbano #17)
Author: Andrea Camilleri
Translator: Stephen Sartarelli
Read by: Grover Gardner
Category: Mystery
Audio published: June 24, 2014 by Blackstone Audio
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Add: Goodreads
Purchase: Audible | Amazon | Book Depository
A rash of burglaries has Inspector Salvo Montalbano stumped. The criminals are so brazen that their leader, the anonymous Mr. Z, starts sending the Sicilian inspector menacing letters. Among those burgled is the young and beautiful Angelica Cosulich, who reminds the inspector of the love-interest in Ludovico Ariosto's chivalric romance, Orlando Furioso. Besotted by Angelica's charms, Montalbano imagines himself back in the medieval world of jousts and battles. But when one of the burglars turns up dead, Montalbano must snap out of his fantasy and unmask his challenger.
I like this series more in theory than I do in fact. Angelica's Smile was okay, but not outstanding. Of course, it probably didn't help that I missed all the Orlando Furioso references, since I'd never heard of it, let alone read...