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Amazon.co.uk Review
As the interest of readers in crime fiction in translation continues to grow, it’s common knowledge that one writer's name guarantees highly individual writing: the veteran Italian master Andrea Camilleri. And August Heat demonstrates once again why the author is held in such high esteem -- and why Inspector Montalbano is one of the treasures of the current crime scene. This latest offering (with Montalbano dealing with the discovery of a young woman’s body) is par for the course – not vintage Montalbano, but more than serviceable -- aided by a translation courtesy of the adroit Stephen Sartarelli.
As usual with Montalbano (whose gourmet instincts are as keen as his investigative skills), his methods for learning the truth from suspects vary according to the individuals he is dealing with; here, an unpleasant paedophile comes in for some particularly no-nonsense treatment -- and the legality of some of Montalbano’s actions is distinctly questionable.
The setting, as usual, is the picturesque, non-metropolitan region of Vigata in Sicily. And it's hot --stiflingly hot. In August Heat, we are never allowed to forget the all-enveloping sultriness (the inspector -- possessor of miniature fan, the only one in the police station -- sometimes cloisters himself in his office and strips naked to deal with the heat). At the beginning of the novel, Montalbano’s lover, Livia, has arranged for some friends to stay near them. But their guests' irritating child disappears, and Montalbano undertakes a search. The house they are using yields no clues, despite being searched with a fine toothcomb. The mystery is total -- is it an abduction? Has the child wandered away? Until, that is, Montalbano finds a tunnel in the ground outside -- one that that takes him to a concealed layer of the house. He finds the child, unharmed, but there is another discovery waiting for him in the subterranean room: a trunk. Inside, wrapped in plastic, is the unclothed body of a girl -- her throat has been slashed. The clues to her killer may lie with those responsible for the concealed floor.
Camilleri fans will be more than happy with this, though there is no catch-up characterisation for Montalbano's police colleagues; the author clearly makes the assumption that we’ll be familiar with them. This reservation apart (plus a few others involving a comic secondary figure), followers of this urbane, relentless Italian copper need not hesitate. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Camilleri is in top form in his Inspector Montalbano mystery, set in a seaside villa that seems to be under a biblical curse . . . As always, Camilleri lovingly portrays Montalbano's dry wit, gourmet appetite and distaste for corrupt Italian politics.' --Sunday Times
'Camilleri has produced another winner: pacy, funny and full of angry compassion. Newcomers should start wtih an earlier novel, but this series is every bit as good as the Swedish classics the author rightly admires.' --Guardian
'Camilleri, on top form, lovingly portrays his series hero Inspector Montalbano's dry wit, gourmet appetite and distate for corrupt Italian politics, in this latest mystery, set in a seaside villa that seems to be under a biblical curse.' --Sunday Times
'Sicilian octogenarian Camilleri effortlessly weaves crime and sardonic humour in the latest installment of his Montalbano mysteries.'
--Big Issue
'Camilleri has produced another winner: pacy, funny and full of angry compassion. Newcomers should start wtih an earlier novel, but this series is every bit as good as the Swedish classics the author rightly admires.' --Guardian
'Camilleri, on top form, lovingly portrays his series hero Inspector Montalbano's dry wit, gourmet appetite and distate for corrupt Italian politics, in this latest mystery, set in a seaside villa that seems to be under a biblical curse.' --Sunday Times
'Sicilian octogenarian Camilleri effortlessly weaves crime and sardonic humour in the latest installment of his Montalbano mysteries.'
--Big Issue
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This, the 10th in Andrea Camilleri's wonderfully evocative Montalbano series,does not disappoint. It is August in Sicily and the heat is steaming off every page as Montalbano solves the mystery over the body of a teenage girl found in a trunk in the house his girlfriend(the long suffering Livia)has rented for the summer on behalf of mutual friends. There is the usual humour, the moronic Catarella at the police station, the sly digs at Berlusconi,Montalbano's greediness,slyness,contempt of authority. There are the methods of policing which are so outrageous you just have to laugh-Montalbano and the pathologist sun bathe in deckchairs while waiting for forensics to finish their work!!! The usual variety of suspects and a beautiful girl, this time the victim's twin sister,who gets Montalbano into a sweat. But, Montalbano is feeling his age and the excellent finale in which he realises that he has been duped leaves him a more serious and reflective man. Indeed the ending has a darkness and moroseness about it that has not been apparent in the other books. Montalbano seems almost to have lost his illusions and is a sadder man for it. A worthy companion to the series and as always you are left longing for the next book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Camilleri's books about Sicilian detective Salvo Montalbano inevitably are compared with Donna Leon's stories about Venice's Brunetti, with Brunetti being the more cultured, better educated and more refined of the two. This also applies to the way the books are written Montalbano's more rough-and-ready, sometimes crude, but always big-hearted approach to crime solving seems to fit better with the fact that he's in Sicily and I have always enjoyed the descriptions of places, food and the sea that pepper the Montalbano books even if they aren't quite as beautifully-written or subtle as Leon's.
In this book, Montalbano discovers the body of a brutally-murdered young girl inside a trunk hidden in an illegal apartment in a building rented by friends for the summer. He, of course, solves the crime aided and abetted by a cast of characters who have featured in previous books and a beautiful and seductive young woman, who hasn't.
I enjoyed this book very much, it's a very easy read with a twist at the end, and I found Montalbano's reflections on ageing touching, but agree with previous readers that there isn't really much of a mystery - the culprit is flagged up very early on. And I would have given it four stars were it not for a huge implausibility that I won't mention because it will spoil the plot, but it annoyed me no end.
Very good book for easy summer beach-reading, especially if you're going to Sicily.
In this book, Montalbano discovers the body of a brutally-murdered young girl inside a trunk hidden in an illegal apartment in a building rented by friends for the summer. He, of course, solves the crime aided and abetted by a cast of characters who have featured in previous books and a beautiful and seductive young woman, who hasn't.
I enjoyed this book very much, it's a very easy read with a twist at the end, and I found Montalbano's reflections on ageing touching, but agree with previous readers that there isn't really much of a mystery - the culprit is flagged up very early on. And I would have given it four stars were it not for a huge implausibility that I won't mention because it will spoil the plot, but it annoyed me no end.
Very good book for easy summer beach-reading, especially if you're going to Sicily.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
As evocative as ever of the corrupt yet charismatic sicilian life of Montalbano. A tale with twists and turns plus some typical humour and humanity that characterises this series.
This is definitely one of the best with all the elements we have grown to love - Livia, food, Adelina's fridge filling and best of all an unputdownable plot.
The characters continue to entertain and I am really looking forward to #11 now!
PS My wife who has skipped several in the series has now picked this up after proof reading this review and she has loved it - agrees there's plenty of humour (some dark) and it is a cracking enjoyable read without being too heavy.
This is definitely one of the best with all the elements we have grown to love - Livia, food, Adelina's fridge filling and best of all an unputdownable plot.
The characters continue to entertain and I am really looking forward to #11 now!
PS My wife who has skipped several in the series has now picked this up after proof reading this review and she has loved it - agrees there's plenty of humour (some dark) and it is a cracking enjoyable read without being too heavy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Montalbano
If you have watched the television show "Inspector Montalbano" you'll love reading the original. You can put faces and voices to all the characters. Read more
Published 22 days ago by barbara
Superb Scilian crime novel. Not for newcomers to the series
This Montalbano investigation is a treasure of modern crime literature. It's delightful to read; a frothy confection of familiar, entertaining themes wrapped around a darker,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rowena Hoseason
Another Flawed Detective - in Hotter Climes
This, the tenth in the serie, was the first of the Inspector Montalbano stories that I've read. As an avid reader of detective fiction - almost a guilty pleasure - I was looking... Read more
Published 14 months ago by J. Grundy
Heat and crime in story of vanishing ways of Sicilian life
If there is one thing that AUGUST HEAT, the tenth in the Inspector Montalbano series, does without a doubt, it is to make the reader feel the titular heat. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Maxine Clarke
Wow - can't wait to read the entire series now
Bought August Heat to 'try out' as I don't usually read dectective stories. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read the rest of the series. Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. Customer
A worthy successor to Aurelio Zen
Successor only in my order of reading. Zen has entertained me for years and Dibden's death was a blow to a very fine series of novels. Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. Friswell
A short sweaty read
I read this late entry in the Inspector Montalbano series in what seemed like a flash. There`s no denying the clammy August Heat has a little less depth, and is much more about the... Read more
Published 18 months ago by GlynLuke
Excellent
I am a newcomer to the Camilleri stories, but I will definitely return. This is not from the all action school of detective fiction, nor is the writing reliant upon contrived... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Andy Edwards
August Heat
Another amusing and fascinating novel in the Inspector Montalbano series. Having read all the preceding novels in the series I love the characters who appear in each book and look... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. R. Riseley
August Heat (Montalbano)
Being an ardent Donna Leon fan and reading the praise heaped on all of Montalbano novels I stupidly ordered three of Andrea Camilleri's novels. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mme Diann Shoreman
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