Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019)

Having become addicted to the Inspector Montalbano series on TV, some time ago, I had bought one of the books that inspired the series. The Shape of Water is the first book in the series written by Camilleri and was the next unread book on my shelf. It was originally published in Italy in 1994 and translated into English in 2002. It is a murder mystery set in Sicily with plot twists a-plenty to keep the mystery reader amused. The body of a local politician is found inside a car at a lovers meeting spot on waste ground near the beach. He had recently had an operation for heart disease and apart from his trousers and pants being pulled down the autopsy stated he died of natural causes. Inspector Montalbano is advised by his superiors to wrap up the case as quickly as possible, but Montalbano wants to investigate more thoroughly.

It is difficult to imagine afresh a character from a book that one knows so well on TV and so of course I kept seeing the actor Luca Zingaretti in my mind as well as the camera shots of the Sicilian town featured on the show. In the book Inspector Montalbano is perhaps a bit more irascible than on the TV show. The book is a quick and entertaining read and perhaps there are a few too many information dumps, but it is nice to be able to 'almost' understand the resolution to the mystery. This series may well become my go-to series when the mood takes me. 3.5 stars… (mer)