Discover Andrea Camilleri, and enter mysterious Sicily

Take an idiosyncratic police Inspector, surround him with quirky good guys and bad guys, place them in a funny yet sad Sicily, add Camilleri's way with words and out come an engaging Montalbano mystery. That would be Salvo Montalbano, the Sicilian Inspector created by Andrea Camilleri in Italian, sprinkled with Sicilian dialect.

Montalbano is a loner in a complex organization - the Italian legal system. He has a moral code that is repeatedly challenged by decisions of his superiors, and the natural Sicilian instinct to "go along to get along". He is single but involved romantically with a woman that understands the needs of his job, but chafes under the interference in daily life that result. Montalbano is a thoughtful man who prefers to follow his instincts rather than rules and the expressed wishes of others. He is a respected police office who gets results; An honorable man in an indifferent society, who said: "If I gave a crook my word, I kept it..."

Montalbano rarely misses a meal. He seems to prefer fish but enjoys any creative good cooking. Why does this matter? Because Camilleri takes the reader on Montalbano's quest for a great trattoria, a great entree, or a fine cook. I'm always wondering where my next meal is coming from; and apparently, so is Montalbano.

If you need your mysteries in English, you must patiently wait for the terrific translations of Stephen Sartarelli. Camilleri has written many books, but the Montalbano series is what I crave. I'm not alone; the series is translated into eight languages to complement the native Italian. Camilleri sprinkles his stories with dialect, Italian jargon, native dishes, and literary, historical and cultural asides. Sartarelli includes a collection of explanatory notes that can be ignored, or savored to enhance the reading experience.

What great book titles! Start with "The Shape of Water", and discover Camilleri and Montalbano from the beginning.

The Montalbano mystery books stand on their own and can be read in any order, which is good since the books can be a little hard to find. However, as in any good series, the author gets to know the characters as the series progress and taken in order, you can learn about Montalbano along with Camilleri. Happy book hunting!

The Shape of Water (#1) - (La forma dell'acqua)

The Terra-Cotta Dog (#2) - (Il cane di terracotta)

The Snack Thief (#3) - (Il ladro di merendine)

Voice of the Violin (#4) - (La voce del violino)

The Excursion To Tindari (#5) - (La gita a Tindari)

The Smell of the Night (#6) - (L'odore della notte)

Rounding the Mark (#7) - (Il giro di boa)

The Patience of the Spider (#8) - (La pazienza del ragno)

The Paper Moon (#9) March 2008 - (La luna di carta)

Not yet translated from the Italian

SicilyLa vampa d'agosto (#10)

Le ali della sfinge (#11)

La pista di sabbia (#12)

Il campo del vasaio (#13)