Montalbano macht süchtig: Auch ich bin nach den ersten drei Büchern zu einem wahren Montalabno Fan geworden. Normalerweise bin ich kein Freund von Krimireihen, aber die Montalbano Reihe ist etwas besonderes. Auch die Stimme der Violine erzählt wieder in lockerem und leichtfüßigen Schreibstil von einem Mordfall an einer schönen Frau, der von Montalbano geschickt und menschlich aufgeklärt wird. Zudem gelingt es dem Autor Camilieri, dass man den Menschen Montalbano und sein Umfeld immer besser kennenlernen will, da auch die Nebenschauplätze sehr menschlich geschildert werden. Ob Francois nun wirklich von Montalbano und seiner Freundin Livia adoptiert wird, ob Catarella fähig ist den Computerkurs zu überstehen und ob Montalbano mit seinem neuen Questore zurechtkommt, macht den Krimi nicht nur spannend sondern auch menschlich. Ich freu mich schon auf den nächsten Teil.

Fourth in the Salvo Montalbano Italian police procedural series in which Salvo discovers the body of a beautiful young woman in her home when he stops to find out why the home’s owner has not responded to a note he left when one of their police cars collides with her car that was parked outside the home. As usual, the politics of the department and the country take the case over and Salvo must investigate on the sly after being taken off the case by the new commissioner. The gruff and grumpy Montalbano shows his vulnerable side too, briefly. A quick, enjoyable visit to Sicily where the author puts you right in the heart of the place, evoking smells, tastes and views that leave little to the imagination. Good stuff! ( )

I keep recommending Camilleri to other people. They ignore me. Have his non Montalbano books been translated into English?

This is the 36th book I have read this year, and the fourth one in the Inspector Montalbano series.

As with all of the others, I enjoyed it very much, although it does slightly feel like more of the same. The books are pretty formulaic, but that certainly does not detract from the pleasure of reading them. A gap of perhaps a year between each book would probably be beneficial.

In this book, Montalbano investigates the violent murder of a beautiful woman. There appear to be many possible suspects for the murder, and as always, Montalbano manages to upset his superiors, his colleagues and even his girlfriend, the long suffering Livia, during the course of his investigations. Things of course, are not what they initially seem, and it is up to Montalbano to find his way through the web of lies, and get to the truth of the matter. In the meantime, there are problems in his personal life, where events do not unfold as Montalbano and Livia had hoped.

All in all, a really good read. ( )

4th in the Inspector Montalbano series.

Montalbano and Gallo are on their way to a funeral. Thanks to Gallo’s mania for speed, they inadvertently crash into a parked car, causing extensive damage to both cars. Still, the police car can move, and they proceed to the funeral after Montalbano conscientiously leaves a note with his name and phone number under the windshield wiper of the other car. But when they return, there is no sign that the owner has even been near the car.

Suspicious, Montalbano makes a midnight reconnaissance of the house in front of which the car is parked, and finds a beautiful naked woman who has been murdered by suffocation. Naturally, he can not report the crime, since he is in the house illegally, but ever ingenious, he calls on a friend, an old woman with whom he has worked before, to make an anonymous phone call to the police.

The old police commissioner, a friend of Montalbano’s, has retired, and a new one who has absolutely no use for Montalbano (the feeling is mutual) and his idiosyncratic ways, removes him from the case and puts it in the hands of an arrogant publicity seeker—with disastrous results.

To make life even more bizarre, Catarella is selected to attend computer school to the cynical amusement of all hands. Except that strange things happen in that arena as well.

This is pure Montalbano in the hands of that master craftsman, Camilleri, and has all the elements that so delighted in the earlier books: humor, well-drawn characters over the entire spectrum of recurring and non-recurring, it-can-only-happen-in-Sicily ambiance, good plotting, and more food to die for. You can’t lose with this series.

Highly recommended. ( )