The Other End of the Line

Quite by accident, during Refugee Week, I found myself reading a novel with a subplot about Syrian refugees. A friend of mine with reading tastes somewhat different to mine, mentioned the author Andrea Camilleri and was astonished that I had never heard of him. Although he writes crime novels, she made his books sound irresistible because of the Italian setting, and the detective's devotion to Italian cuisine. And since I do like Donna Leon's Brunetti mystery series because they're set in Venice, I found one of the Inspector Montalbano Mysteries at the library...

The crime is a murder and there are the usual relationship issues, red herrings, and tiresome senior officers and incompetents, that are the staples of crime fiction. But the show more subplot, in which the Vigàta police force are having to cope with hundreds of refugees arriving on the Sicilian coast, rings true. Up all night trying to keep order when there are no reinforcements to enable the ordinary work of policing to go on, is all the more difficult because Inspector Montalbano doesn't agree with the EU treatment of the refugees.

Fortunately when he explains things to his girlfriend Livia who lives in Boccadasse and doesn't have a clear sense of just how dramatic things are, she agrees to help. 'Lately,' he says...

the migrant landings on our coasts are more punctual than the bus from Montelusa. They come by the hundreds every single night. No matter the weather. Men, women, children, old people. Freezing, starving, thirsty and frightened. And in need of everything. Every single one of us at the station is busy twenty-four hours a day trying to manage these arrivals. And in town people have formed committees of volunteers who collect living necessities, cook warm meals, provide clothing, shoes and blankets. Beba directs one of these committees. Do you feel up to lending her a hand?

'Of course', said Livia. (p.8)

Of course. It really is quite simple...

Camilleri (1925-2019) may have been a prolific writer of genre fiction, but he was an author with a heart and he used fame and popularity to raise serious issues. show less

I found Montalbano's twenty-fifth case, The Other End of the Line, to be one of his strongest. Yes, there's the element of humor, with the tech-leery Montalbano trying to deal with a GPS for the first time, and Catarella trying to take care of the victim's cat. Yes, there's the mouth-watering Sicilian food. Yes, there's Livia with her demands and arguments and Montalbano's intuition and dreams that always seem to lead him to the right path in his investigation. But there's more.

The Other End of the Line is firmly rooted in the crisis so many European countries have faced with thousands of refugees seeking asylum. Author Andrea Camilleri skillfully shows the logistics of dealing with frightened people almost every night and brings an show more even more human side to the situation with the plight of a young refugee girl.

The mystery is a tough one to solve. Montalbano has to deal with a member of his team trying to fit up a rival with the murder of the woman in the tailor's shop, and the victim herself is so secretive that it makes the investigation even harder.

This book's treatment of the refugee crisis makes it one of the strongest in this long-running series. We get to observe both Montalbano's heart and his considerable skills. I'm looking forward to his next case even though it means that I get closer to the end of one of my favorite series. show less

This latest Montalbano story is the one that the racists do not like. It is sympathetic towards refugees, who are shown as human beings facing hardship and tragedy, rather than as an alien “threat” to be feared or hated. Andrea Camilleri has often sprinkled his Montalbano books with the occasional critical social comment from his left-leaning perspective. But this time he wears his heart on his sleeve even more fully and explicitly than usual by conveying, I’m pleased to say, a strong anti-racist message.

Although the first third of the book revolves around refugees, the second two thirds centres on a more mainstream murder mystery. This “whodunnit” plot is nothing out of the ordinary, and I was actually already familiar with show more it because I’d already watched the TV version of this story. But even so, I still found the book well worth reading for the usual humour and for the familiar portrayal of Montalbano’s endearingly quirky personality and his relationships with his team.

I am a great fan of Montalbano, but not an uncritical one. A few of the books have not been up to the usual high standard. For example, a couple of the stories have felt like he was going through the motions; a couple have contained themes or scenes which were too dark or distasteful for my liking; and a couple have contained irritating paranormal incidents. But this book is certainly one of the good ones. show less

Now that Andrea Camillieri has died, I savor each of the remaining books featuring Chief Inspector Salvo Montalbano, the experience bittersweet. In this 24th book in the series, Camillieri explores the tragedy of the Syrian immigrants fleeing death, war and persecution. The book is touching in so many ways. There is also a secondary mystery, but I fear saying too much about that. Camillieri, already blind by the time he wrote this novel (released in Italy in 2016), shows he had not lost his touch one whit.

This is the third Inspector Montalbano book I have read and each one is more masterfully executed than the last. I intend to read the entire series. My dad introduced me to these books, and I'm so glad he did. They are unique, delightful, atmospheric, and entertaining, with distinctive characters that never feel like caricatures. The plots are not so complicated that you can't keep track of what is going on, yet not so simple that they feel packaged or scripted. The books often address important social issues in a matter-of-fact way that line up well with the story and don't seem preach-y or extraneous. I can't recommend this series enough!

Che delusione, questo "L'altro capo del filo"!
Un Montalbano veramente "stanco", in cui quasi metà racconto è dedicato ad una vicenda che nulla ha a che vedere con l'argomento principale -- gli sbarchi dei migranti.
Il resto, una inchiesta moscia, dove succede gran poco se non la vita di tutti i giorni del commissario: i bisticci con l'eterna fidanzata, le schermaglie con Mimì, lo sbuffare per il "già fatto" di Fazio, gran mangiate da Enzo, apparecchiare e sparecchiare la tavola, e via così.
L'impressione che se ne ha è che Camilleri abbia allungato il brodo su una storia che aveva ben poco da dire, zero colpi di scena, una serie di intuizioni evidentemente pilotate, ed un finale banale banale che non rende onore ai passati show more capolavori della serie del Commissario Montalbano.
Certo, Camilleri continua ad essere un grandissimo scrittore, con una prosa meravigliosa. Ma la forma senza sostanza non regge.
Peccato. show less

Kudos to Camilleri for integrating one of the big problems facing Europe now -- the influx of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean in overcrowded unsafe boats and the ability to process and accommodate these refugees. Montalbano's small police force is stretched to help handle this new work, and trying to find local, qualified volunteers: fluent in Arab or medical skills. Meanwhile, Livia wants him to attend a marriage vow renewal of her friends and forces him to have a new bespoke suit by a charming female tailor. When she is brutally murdered with shears, her quiet life comes under scrutiny to find suspects. Funny at times, Montalbano's intuition is still keen and his supporting characters (e.g., Rinaldo the fluffy white show more cat), including meals from his maid Adelina's and restauranteur Enzo, are an ongoing source of delight. show less