Crime thriller set in AMSTERDAM
No. 3 in the Inspector Montalbano series – SICILY
1st November 2022
The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri, no. 3 in the Inspector Montalbano series, set in SICILY.
#fromourbookshelves
I happened to come across an out-dated version of this novel on our shelves, oldin the sense that the cover has had a more recent makeover, but what a poor decision it has been to substitute the original cover series with something so wooden, two dimensional and bland. What were they thinking when they decided upon the update.?
Thus I have had the pleasure of reading the book with the earlier – and MUCH nicer – cover! The novel is replete with the usual banter and wry humour for which the author is known. Two deaths occur in short succession as the novel opens – one on a trawler, the other in a lift in an apartment block (there is even one of the occupants getting into the lift with his 4 carrier bags and, the body notwithstanding, he zooms up to his flat). Gradually the plot unfolds and we learn more about the backstories and how the two may be linked…
The ambience and feel of Sicily imbues his work – Donna Leon is quoted on the cover of my copy, that the novel “Breathes out the sense of place and the sense of humour that fills the air of Sicily”
The mystery meanders around the locality, highlighting delicious-sounding food choices, and it is a real delight to meet the myriad personalities that breeze through the novel. Montalbano comes across as a very likeable character and the author clearly enjoys fleshing out his character and choosing the situations into which he sets him.
It is interesting that before Covid, there would be several plane loads of tourists descending on Sicily each week, with the simple 
intention of walking in Montalbano’s footsteps. In an earlier blogpost we explored what it actually means to arrive in Sicily and how the film adaptations of the novels are set in one part of the island and the actual books are set in another. You can read all about the errors that many tourists have made on this link: The Montalbano Books Are Set Exactly Where in Sicily?
If you are new to this series – and it is unlikely that there will be more, the last was published post humously just recently – then they are an absolute delight and they offer a trip to Sicily through fiction. Enjoy!
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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Lovely review Tina, I completely agree about the covers.
I’ve visited Sicily, a fascinating place, and I love this series and the descriptions of the scenery and the food. I think I’ve read 12 of them so far, so this review has prompted me to get back to them.
I’ve watched all the Montalbano series on tv, again and again, and enjoyed then all including the Young Montalbano. I’m mesmorised by the discordant music, and sometimes snatches of it crop up in other programmes.
I doubt whether I will ever read any of the books, Being 80 this month, and still waiting for both cataracts to be removed, I’m running out of time to read over 250 other books all tempting me from my bookshelves. xxx
So many of my blogging friends have been avid followers of this series, that I feel quite left out!
However, I actually became aware of the series when it was already quite well established and felt that it wasn’t going to be possible for me to play ‘catch-up’, so it became one of those ‘maybe one day’ projects!
I suppose when you see the entire suite of new covers together, they look okay (check out the author on Fantastic Fiction), although I don’t like the yellow disc inserts, as it makes them look like some special offer series in one of the discount book shops.
Much as I don’t like ‘classic’ storylines being retold, added to, or amended, I suppose I feel the same way about ‘vintage’ cover art, especially if you were mid-way through collecting the series!