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3 October 2014

Review: THE SNACK THIEF, Andrea Camilleri

  • format: Kindle (Amazon)
  • File Size: 520 KB
  • Print Length: 308 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0330492977
  • Publisher: Picador; New Ed edition (October 1, 2005)
  • Sold by: Macmillan
  • Language: English, translated from Italian by Stephen Sartarelli.
  • ASIN: B006NV9C4K
Synopsis (Amazon)

The third novel in Camilleri's savagely witty and hauntingly atmospheric Sicilian mystery series featuring Inspector Montalbano.

Never has Inspector Montalbano's character-a unique blend of humour, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food-been more compelling than in The Snack Thief.

When an elderly man is stabbed to death in an elevator and a crewman on an Italian fishing trawler is machine-gunned by a Tunisian patrol boat off Sicily's coast, only Inspector Montalbano suspects the link between the two incidents. His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished house cleaner and sometime prostitute, whose young son steals other school children's mid-morning snacks. But Karima disappears, and the young snack thief's life-as well as Montalbano's-is endangered when the inspector exposes a viper's nest of government corruption and international intrigue.

My Take

It is fascinating to watch the disparate strands of this novel come together. In many ways Inspector Montalbano is a maverick, a very cool investigator, whose instinct for the truth is remarkable.

Courageous in many ways connected to his job, Montalbano is unable to face his father's impending death.

There is a lot of black humor in THE SNACK THIEF but a lot of compassion too. An underlying all, Montalbano's love of good food, resulting mouth watering recipes.

My rating: 4.3

I've also reviewed
4.5, AUGUST HEAT
4.2, ROUNDING THE MARK
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous3 October 2014 at 04:57

    Kerrie - I must admit I have a weakness for this series. I really like the setting, the wit, and of course, the delicious food...

    ReplyDelete

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