Lead Review
- Book: The Snack Thief
- Location: Sicily
- Author: Andrea Camilleri
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, which is fascinating.
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!
Not keen on the current cover and was delighted to read a copy of the book with the old cover!
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