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Product Description
Product Description
‘Camilleri writes with such vigour and wit that he deserves a place alongside Michael Dibdin and Donna Leon’ Sunday Times
Book Description
The Terracotta Dog opens with a mysterious tête-à-tête with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and some dying words that lead Inspector Montalbano to a secret grotto in a mountain cave where two young lovers dead fifty years and still embracing are watched over by a life-size terracotta dog. Montalbano’s passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island’s past and into a family’s dark heart amid the horrors of World War II. Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Salvo Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic, engaging take on Sicilian small-town life and his genius for deciphering the most enigmatic of crimes. ‘The novels of Andrea Camilleri breath out the sense of place, the sense of humour, and the sense of despair that fill the air of Sicily. To read him is to be taken to that glorious, tortured island’ Donna Leon ‘Both farcical and endearing, Montalbano is a cross between Columbo and Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, with the added culinary idiosyncrasies of an Italian Maigret’ Guardian
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the best of the excellent Salvo Montalbano series by Camilleri. As usual, at the outset there are odd goings on but not necessarily crimes - a characterful old man dies in a road accident (or it seems to be an accident), there is a bizarre theft from a supermarket (it does not make sense, and Montalbano is very quick to spot that) and the terrifying Tana the Greek confides in the Inspector. But it the remarkable discovery of the secret, blocked cave, the two dead, naked lovers (are they lovers?) and the terracota dog that really set things buzzing. Throw in a defrocked priest who drinks milk out of a baby's bottle, a charming old headmaster and his wife, a hospital bedside scene in which Montalbano is anxiously guarded by his three women, Livia, Anna and Ingrid, and the usual frustrations he faces in his dealings with bureaucrats and less capable officers. As usual, there is considerable atmosphere, frequent enjoyable excursions into the world of Sicilian cooking and, this time, an intriguing link between past and present, all of which combine to make this an excellent book of its kind and great fun to read.
46 of 48 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Terra-Cotta Dog is an extremely rewarding police procedural with deep cultural and historical roots that provide a delightful complexity for the reader. I would award this book six stars if I could.
If you have not yet read any of the Inspector Montalbano books, I suggest that you take the time to read The Shape of Water first. That book helps set up the context of the characters and makes The Terra-Cotta Dog far more interesting.
This book has Inspector Montalbano solving several mysteries before he is done. In a fascinating way, each mystery leads unexpectedly into the next one. And so on. It's like opening the Russian nesting dolls to find another treasure inside. I can rarely recall such fine plotting and seamless connections between disparate story elements in one police procedural.
As the book opens, Montalbano has been invited to meet secretly with a dangerous killer. Is it a trap? Why would the killer want to meet with a police inspector? The answer leads to a merry-go-round of public relations activities to cover up the real motive. Then, the charade collapses and Montalbano finds out about an unknown crime. More public relations follow . . . and from them Montalbano gets a clue to other hidden crimes. The rest of the novel reminded me of an archeologist's work in uncovering earlier civilizations that built on the same site.
The main contexts for these mysteries are the Sicilian Mafia, the Fascist era, the American invasion of Sicily during World War II, and the Christian and Moslem religions. How's that for an unusual combination?
Montalbano emerges as an even more interesting character in this book than in The Shape of Water, especially as his relationship with his girl friend Livia develops. As before, the food references are a delight and add a warm human touch to offset the evil that coils throughout the story.
As I finished the story, I was reminded how important it is to be dogged in chasing down details that don't seem to make sense. There's always an explanation for mysteries, but the explanation will never be revealed unless you follow the path to the answer wherever it takes you.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One morning Inspector Montalbano gets a phone call from a criminal friend who tells him to meet "somebody". This somebody turns out to be the much wanted criminal Tano the Greek, who wants to turn himself in. He gets arrested but is murdered when transported from one prison to another. Just before he dies he tells Montalbano of a secret cave. After opening the cave where they find a considerable number of weapons, the inspector finds a second cave where he stumbles upon a gruesome, yet old scene. Together with a number of the elderly people in the village he is eventually capable of solving the crime, but at one point this nearly costs him his life.
This is the second Camilleri book that I read and I should say that Inspector Montalbano is growing in his role: he start to be an acquaintance with his good and bad habits. The Shape of Water was a low 4-stars, this one definitely is 5-stars. Reading this book is good way to spend a day off.
This is the second Camilleri book that I read and I should say that Inspector Montalbano is growing in his role: he start to be an acquaintance with his good and bad habits. The Shape of Water was a low 4-stars, this one definitely is 5-stars. Reading this book is good way to spend a day off.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Scillly sounds fun!
Thanks to Andrea Camilleri's detective Montalbo. A cross between clever crime solving, a good dose of luck and the keystone cops. Read more
Published 14 days ago by auriol
The Terracotta Dog
I enjoy detective mysteries, and Italy - Camilleri brings both factors together in a clever tale that covers historic Sicily, and a current Sicily that has never really thrown off... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Eugene
Best of the best
I discovered the Inspector Montalbano series about three years ago, have since devoured every book, and now await each new novel as it comes off the press. Read more
Published 2 months ago by GlynLuke
the terracotta dog
iam reading this book at the moment. very good this is the second book i have read of montalbano.iam looking forward to reading the rest.delivered on time in good condtion. Read more
Published 7 months ago by harry
translation difficult
The idea of a detective story in the mould of Donna Leon's Brunetti was the reason for choosing Terractta dog. Sadly the translation was very stilted and I soon lost interest. Read more
Published 9 months ago by chris thomas
Great atmosphere and translation for Sicilian crime series
Despite my best intentions, I have managed to read the first few books in this wonderful Sicilian police series in the wrong order. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Maxine Clarke
The Terracotta Dog
I have enjoyed all the Inspector Montalbano books. I love the setting and the characters with their different and very human approach to policing. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2010 by G. Gott
mildly entertaining, but full of holes
The historical side of this novel, along with the good characterisation is what has tempted me to give it 3 stars, however the actual plotline is disappointing, as what starts off... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Feasel 81
Camilleri rewiew
An excellent summer read if you like detective stories. Camilleri has an easy style to read,
Published on 2 Aug 2009 by Ms. Anne Renwick
Probably better in Italian
This is the third book in the series that I've read now. Much as the first two, the translator seems to struggle at first but then get into his stride although there are a few... Read more
Published on 8 May 2009 by Twenty20
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