The Smell of the Night

The Book Report: Salvo Montalbano and the Vigata police force have a strange case, one that's not their case and not particularly important seeming as the Common Knowledge has already given it an ending: A Ponzi-scheme swindler comes home to Vigata after being away most of his life, seemingly to answer the greediest prayers of the Vigatese by providing huge returns on the investment of their life savings. One fine day, he fails to appear and disburse the income due, and is never seen again. A major investigation by Montalbano's wretchedly political and horrifically petty bosses has led to the conclusion that Mr. Ponzi's follower was offed by the Mafia, either for taking the wrong widow's life savings or plowing fields they felt were show more their own. After getting involved due to a ludicrous hostage standoff, Montalbano can't help but keep worrying at the threads not in their proper places. In the end, to no one's surprise, the Ponzi schemer is found dead, but not where, or how, anyone could have expected at the beginning of the case.

My Review: I am on record as a fan of the series, and I've given plenty of reasons I feel the books are superior. But one idea has occurred in multiple places and from multiple sources: These books reek, to some, of the corruption and wickedness that mysteries, as distinct from thrillers or noirs, seek to combat. Montalbano doesn't shy away from rule-breaking, he flirts with and even goes far afield with some of the beauteous women Camilleri clearly thinks we all want to read about; his world contains those who aren't morally upright but are valued friends.

Yeah, so? As does your own life, nine bets in ten. Camilleri's character is flawed, and knows this about himself, but he's always motivated by the need to fix things and help people and make the world run right, even if it means breaking rules and going outside the system. I don't sense that this is a problem in other cop-centered series. I have wondered why that seems off-putting in this series.

I think it's because the Mafia is invoked so often, and that makes Americans very tense. It's very much a part of our national conversation even yet, and has entered English as a term of opprobrium for any group or team that's opposed to your own. (I treasure a mention of the Bush Mafia made in Austin's newspaper, later retracted and apologized for. THAT was a good day!)

It's all I can figure, anyway. I am so NOT in love with the current fashion for Scandinavian crime writers that I think I may have reacted histaminically by heading for Sicily. Something more exciting, please, no reserved and tortured souls trying to make amends for their misdeeds, thank you. And as these books don't have revolting, violent depictions of things I don't want to think about (yes, that's Lisbeth in my crosshairs), perhaps the ghoul crowd isn't tempted in. Taste being inarguable, granted, I still wonder at the reason for uninterest or dislike that I've seen mention far more than once.

Guess that's why there'll always be chocolate and vanilla. show less

These books just get funnier and funnier, although the mystery is quite serious and owes a lot to another author at the end (fully credited). Great fun, great characters, a testament to why even these most entertaining of series are better read in order, because the characters age, grow and build independently of the particular crime investigated.

Inspector Montalbano gets some good meals in and only goes slightly off his feed. Really he should have no difficultly figuring out how to dispose of a body (I mean a sweater) successfully! Livia must see something in him but while I enjoy reading about him, his fits, starts, and tempers are major off putting in someone in close relationship. I'll have to see if the relationship is given more credibility in future volumes.

Montalbano solves another one, with a little help from William Faulkner! I had this one figured out myself before the killer was revealed. It was fun to read, as they all are...but not quite enough food was featured!
Reviewed in 2013

The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri is the 6th book in the Commissario Montalbano series. Wile this volume was not my favorite of the series I still enjoyed it and loved catching up with Montalbano and his group of compatriots.

Inspector Montalbano is called out to a hostage situation where an old man has a gun on the secretary of a small financial company. The owner of the company has apparently absconded with his client’s life savings. No one is quite sure whether the financial manager has run afoul of the Mafia or whether his scam was successful and he is now living it up on a tropical island. Defusing the hostage situation brings Monalbano’s attention to the case which the fraud squad has been investigating and, of show more course, he comes up with a totally different solution, one that much more closely matches the evidence.

The book is wonderfully translated by Stephen Sartarelli who captures the wit and gusto of Montalbano’s Sicilian life. We are treated to many mouth-watering descriptions of food as well as the delightful late night phone conversations and quarrels with his long-suffering girlfriend, Livia. Montalbano’s irreverent, individualist style makes for a fun, diverting read and I am already looking forward to the next book. show less

I really enjoy the Inspector Montalbano series, and this one doesn't disappoint. I found more humor in this than the other books in the series that I've read.

Inspector Montalbano is called to the scene of a possible hostage situation. An elderly man is holding a secretary at gunpoint until ragioniere Garbano comes back and returns the money he supposedly invested for him. A crowd gathers outside, all angry investors wanting their money back. Needless to say, Garbano scammed them all of their money and disappeared, leaving his secretary to hold down the fort.

While Inspector Montalbano and his team are investigating the missing Garbano, he has the additional aggravation of finding his favorite olive tree cut down to make way for the show more construction of a house, another missing person, and his Commissioner convinced that he has kidnapped a young boy and stolen some money from a previous case.

A very enjoyable quick read with a surprising finish show less

Salvo Montalbano, the quick-witted, sardonic police inspector at the center of Andrea Camilleri’s wonderful series of mystery novels, is one of the most appealing and enigmatic heroes in the crime fiction genre. He is always highly principled in his pursuit of justice, but he is not above breaking the rules when there is an end that can be justified by those means. His personal relationships tend to be a bit of a mess and he is continually at odds professionally with the officious, hierarchical system in which he must function. He is also a gourmand of the first order; he lives to eat and the food scenes that the author scatters throughout every story are often the moments to savor the most.

The mystery at the heart of The Smell of the show more Night is not terribly involved or unique: A money manager has disappeared with the life savings of a number of elderly residents in a small town and various factions within the police force struggle to solve a case that looks increasingly like a murder investigation. Of course, the details of the plot are never really the point in Camilleri’s books. Set exclusively in Sicily, these stories provide the reader with a fascinating insight into the island’s rugged beauty and the mindset of a people who even other Italians find confusing and sometimes frightening.

Overall, this was quick and enjoyable reading experience. The Smell of the Night is the sixth book in the series, but only the fifth one that I have read. If my pattern with the first four holds, I probably will not remember much at all about this story in a few weeks. Nevertheless, the journey was well worth the effort—it is always a pleasure to spend a couple of days in Montalbano’s world. show less