Search results for ""author stephen sartarelli""

The Treasure Hunt is the sixteenth gripping novel in Andrea Camilleri's darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano series.When a crazed elderly man and his sister begin firing bullets from their balcony down onto the Vigàta street below, Inspector Montalbano finds himself a reluctant television hero.A few days later, when a letter arrives containing a mysterious riddle, the Inspector becomes drawn into a perplexing treasure hunt set by an anonymous challenger. As the hunt intensifies, Montalbano is relieved to be offered the assistance of Arturo Pennisi, a young man eager to witness the detective's investigative skills first hand.Fending off meddling commissioners and his irate girlfriend, Livia, the inspector will follow the treasure hunt's clues and travel from Vigàta's teeming streets to its deserted outskirts: where an abandoned house overlooks a seemingly bottomless lake. But when a horrifying crime is committed, the game must surely be laid aside. And it isn't long before Montalbano himself will be in terrible danger . . .'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday TimesThe Treasure Hunt is followed by the seventeenth Inspector Montalbano title, Angelica's Smile.

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From the Italian crime legend, Andrea Camilleri, comes The Potter's Field, winner of the CWA International Dagger Award and the thirteenth instalment in the Inspector Montalbano series.While Vigàta is wracked by storms, Inspector Montalbano is called to attend the discovery of a dismembered body in a field of clay. Bearing all the marks of an execution style killing, it seems clear that this is, once again, the work of the notorious local mafia. But who is the victim? Why was the body divided into thirty pieces? And what is the significance of the Potter's Field?Working to decipher these clues, Montalbano must also confront the strange and difficult behaviour exhibited by his old colleague Mimi, and avoid the distraction of the enchanting Dolores Alfano – who seeks the inspector's help in locating her missing husband. But like the Potter's Field itself, Montalbano is on treacherous ground and only one thing is certain – nothing is quite as it seems . . .'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday TimesThe Potter's Field is followed by The Age of Doubt, the fourteenth in the series.

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The Scent of the Night is the sixth comic detective novel in the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.Montalbano learned how hard it was to put on a wetsuit while in a dinghy speeding over a sea that wasn't exactly calm. Mimì, at the helm, looked tense and worried."Getting seasick?" the inspector asked him at one point."No. Just sick of myself.""Why?""Because every now and then I realize what a stupid shit I am to go along with some of your brilliant ideas."When an angry octogenarian holds a terrified and lovelorn secretary at gunpoint, Inspector Montalbano is reluctantly drawn into the case. The secretary's boss, a financial advisor, has vanished along with several billion lire entrusted to him by the good citizens of Vigàta. Also missing is the advisor's young colleague, whose uncle just happens to be building a house on the site of Inspector Montalbano's very favourite olive tree . . .Ably abetted by his loyal and eccentric team, Montalbano, the food-loving, commitment-phobic inspector, returns for another delicious investigation served up in vintage Camilleri style.The Scent of the Night is followed by the seventh book in the series, Rounding the Mark.

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In The Sicilian Method, Andrea Camilleri's twenty-sixth novel in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series, Montalbano finds his answers to a murder in a theatrical play.Mimi Augello is visiting his lover when the woman's husband unexpectedly returns to the apartment. Hurriedly, he climbs out the window and into the downstairs apartment, but from one danger to another. In the dark he sees a body lying on the bed. Shortly afterwards another body is found and the victim is Carmelo Catalanotti, a director of bourgeois dramas with a harsh reputation for the acting method he developed for his actors: digging into their complexes to unleash their talent, a traumatic experience for all. Are the two deaths connected? Catalanotti scrupulously kept notes and comments on all the actors he worked with as well as strange notebooks full of figures, dates and names . . .Inspector Montalbano finds all of Catalanotti's dossiers and plays, the notes on the characters and the notes on his final drama, Dangerous Turn. It is in the theatre where he feels the solution lies.

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The Other End of the Line is the twenty-fourth Inspector Montalbano mystery from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri, and this time migrants and murder are on the Inspector's mind. In Inspector Montalbano’s coastal town of Vigàta, a surge of migrants have been coming in by boat, and all the town’s hands are on deck to help the arrivals. At the heart of the scene are the police – on the lookout for the people smugglers responsible – and long night-shifts are rendering Inspector Montalbano and his officers exhausted. Then one night, while Montalbano is enduring yet another gruelling stint at the port, a separate crime is committed – unexplained, unexpected, and unpleasant. Elena, the dressmaker at the town’s famous tailors, has been found dead – slaughtered by her own scissors . . . As a swell of desperate people arrive in search of a better life, Inspector Montalbano finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the dressmaker. But as he makes his enquiries, the Inspector can’t help but wonder: what will happen if he keeps tugging on this thread? And what will he find at the end of the line?The Other End of the Line is followed by the twenty-fifth gripping mystery, The Safety Net.

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The Overnight Kidnapper is the twenty-third Inspector Montalbano mystery, from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri.After a hectic morning involving two rather irritating cases of mistaken identity, Inspector Montalbano finally arrives in his office ready find out what's troubling Vigàta this week. What he discovers is unnerving. A woman on her way home from work has been held up at gunpoint, chloroformed and kidnapped, but then released just hours later – unharmed and with all her possessions – into the open countryside.Later that day, Montalbano hears from Enzo, the owner of his favourite restaurant, that his niece has recently been the victim of the exact same crime. Before long, a third instance of this baffling overnight kidnapping has been reported. As far as Montalbano can tell, there is no link between the attacker and the victims. So what exactly is this mystery assailant gaining from these fleeting kidnappings? And what can he do to stop them? Montalbano must use all his logic and intuition if he is to answer these pressing questions before the kidnapper finds his next victim . . .The Overnight Kidnapper is followed by the twenty-fourth gripping mystery, The Other End of the Line.

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Inspector Montalbano: The First Three Novels in the Series contains The Shape of Water, The Terracotta Dog and The Snack Thief, from Andrea Camilleri's bestselling Inspector Montalbano series. This three-book compilation features: The Shape of Water: On a waste ground in Vigàta, the Sicilian town's dark underbelly flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes plying their trade. But when the body of Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, is discovered there, Inspector Montalbano must investigate; and despite pressure from his commissioner, a local judge and bishop – he is determined to unearth the truth . . . The Terracotta Dog: When two lovers, dead for over fifty years, are discovered in a mountain cave watched over by a life-size terracotta dog, Inspector Montalbano's investigation will take him on a journey through Sicily's past and into a family's dark heart amid the horrors of World War II. 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 a link between the two incidents . . .

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A family cloaked in secrets. A beguiling woman. A unique setting. Inspector Bordelli is back to solve one of the most difficult cases of his entire career in the sixth book in this atmospheric crime noir series - perfect for fans of Andrea Camilleri.Florence, 1967. It is winter, and one year has passed since the historic and devastating flood of the Arno, though the memories of that day still linger with the stains on the city walls.The anniversary of the flood brings with it a new case for Inspector Bordelli, who is weighed down with remorse for having taken justice into his own hands, and yearning for Eleonora, the woman he's lost, when the mystery opens. A local wealthy industrialist - fiercely loved and respected by everyone he knew - has been found murdered in his grand villa in the Fiesole hills, and the killer has left no trace.With no obvious leads to follow, Bordelli is patiently retracing the victim's last days when he encounters an old friend from the war. Inviting the frail man into his home with the aim of restoring him to strength with good food and wine, Bordelli is yet to realise that this very friend will lead him ever closer to the secrets at the heart of the mystery - starting with a mysterious woman . . .

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Crime fiction packed with Italian flavour, Death in August is the first Inspector Bordelli mystery set in 1960s' Florence - perfect for fans of Andrea Camilleri or Donna Leon.Florence, summer 1963. Inspector Bordelli is one of the few policemen left in the deserted city. He spends his days on routine work, and his nights tormented by the heat and mosquitoes.Suddenly one night, a telephone call gives him a new sense of purpose: the suspected death of a wealthy Signora. Bordelli rushes to her hilltop villa, and picks the locks. The old woman is lying on her bed - apparently killed by an asthma attack, though her medicine has been left untouched.With the help of his young protégé, the victim's eccentric brother, and a semi-retired petty thief, the inspector begins a murder investigation. Each suspect has a solid alibi, but there is something that doesn't quite add up . . .

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The Wings of the Sphinx is the eleventh book in the wickedly funny Inspector Montalbano series by Italian author, Andrea Camilleri. Things are not going well for Inspector Montalbano. His long-distance relationship with Livia is on the rocks, he feels himself getting even older and he's growing tired of the violence in his job. Then the dead body of a young woman is found in an illegal dump, with half her face missing. Her identity at first unknown; a tattoo of a sphinx moth on her left shoulder links her with three other girls bearing the same mark, all recent Russian immigrants to Italy. Victims of an underworld sex trade, these girls have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a Catholic charity organization. The problem is, the other girls can't help Montalbano with his enquiries. They are all missing. As his investigations progresses, it seems that not everyone wants Montalbano to discover what really lies behind the organization's charitable façade. And not only does Montalbano have a case to solve, he has a demanding stomach to feed, and he must save his foundering relationship with Livia . . .The Wings of the Sphinx is followed by the twelfth gripping mystery, The Track of Sand.

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The Other End of the Line is the twenty-fourth darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano mystery from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri. In Inspector Montalbano’s coastal town of Vigàta, a surge of migrants have been coming in by boat, and all the town’s hands are on deck to help the arrivals. At the heart of the scene are the police – on the lookout for the people smugglers responsible – and long night-shifts are rendering Inspector Montalbano and his officers exhausted. Then one night, while Montalbano is enduring yet another gruelling stint at the port, a separate crime is committed – unexplained, unexpected, and unpleasant. Elena, the dressmaker at the town’s famous tailors, has been found dead – slaughtered by her own scissors . . . As a swell of desperate people arrive in search of a better life, Inspector Montalbano finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of who murdered the dressmaker. But as he makes his enquiries, the Inspector can’t help but wonder: what will happen if he keeps tugging on this thread? And what will he find at the end of the line?

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The Overnight Kidnapper is the twenty-third Inspector Montalbano mystery, from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri.After a hectic morning involving two rather irritating cases of mistaken identity, Inspector Montalbano finally arrives in his office ready to find out what’s troubling Vigàta this week. What he discovers is unnerving. A woman on her way home from work has been held up at gunpoint, chloroformed and kidnapped, but then released just hours later – unharmed and with all her possessions – into the open countryside.Later that day, Montalbano hears from Enzo, the owner of his favourite restaurant, that his niece has recently been the victim of the exact same crime. Before long, a third instance of this baffling overnight kidnapping has been reported. As far as Montalbano can tell, there is no link between the attacker and the victims. So what exactly is this mystery assailant gaining from these fleeting kidnappings? And what can he do to stop them? Montalbano must use all his logic and intuition if he is to answer these pressing questions before the kidnapper finds his next victim . . .The Overnight Kidnapper is followed by the twenty-fourth gripping Montalbano mystery, The Other End of the Line.

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Paper Moon is the thrilling ninth instalment in the warm and witty Inspector Montalbano series, by Italian author Andrea Camilleri.As he gets older, Inspector Montalbano is plagued by existential questions. But he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man – shot in the face at point-blank range with his pants down – commands his attention.Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, dirty cocaine, dead politicians, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigàta . . .Paper Moon is followed by the tenth book in the Sicilian crime series, August Heat.'Montalbano's colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction' – Guardian

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Never has Inspector Montalbano's character – a unique blend of humor, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food - been more compelling than in Andrea Camilleri's third Montalbano novel, 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 a link between the two incidents.His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished house-cleaner, 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.The Snack Thief is followed by the fourth Inspector Montalbano novel, The Voice of the Violin.

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The Track of Sand is Andrea Camilleri's twelfth outing in the wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series. Inspector Montalbano rises one morning to find the carcass of a horse on the beach in front of his seaside home. But no sooner do his men arrive, than the body has mysteriously vanished, leaving only a track in the sand. Before long Rachele, a beguiling equestrian champion, turns up at police headquarters to report her horse missing. The horse had been stabled at the grounds of a certain Saverio Lo Duca, one of the richest men in Sicily. Lo Duca has lost one of his own horses too. Montalbano, his curiosity piqued, investigates, but before long things take a more disturbing turn . . . But who has Montalbano upset within this strange, unfamiliar world of horse-racing? And what has the Mafia to do with it all?The Track of Sand is followed by the thirteenth novel in the series, The Potter's Field.

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Rounding the Mark is the seventh darkly humorous novel in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series.Increasingly disillusioned with his government and the world in general, Inspector Montalbano is considering retirement. He is starting to feel his age, and even his favourite restaurant has closed. But when he bumps into a dead body during a bracing swim, his detective instincts are aroused once more. Particularly when the most likely identity of the victim is a man already long buried . . .Rounding the Mark is followed by the eighth novel in the series The Patience of the Spider.

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Collected in one volume—the first three books in the bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series“You either love Andrea Camilleri or you haven’t read him yet. Each novel in this wholly addictive, entirely magical series, set in Sicily and starring a detective unlike any other in crime fiction, blasts the brain like a shot of pure oxygen. Aglow with local color, packed with flint-dry wit, as fresh and clean as Mediterranean seafood — altogether transporting. Long live Camilleri, and long live Montalbano.” A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowAmerican readers were first introduced to Sicily’s inimitable Inspector Salvo Montalbano more than ten years ago. Since then, the detective—and his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food—has won the affection of crime fiction aficionados and Italophiles alike. With Andrea Camilleri’s last two mysteries appearing on the New York Times bestseller list, it’s clear that interest in the series is at an all time high. Now, Death in Sicily features the Inspector’s first three adventures in one handy volume, offering new readers just the enticement they need to get started.

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Angelica's Smile is the seventeenth novel in the gripping and darkly funny Inspector Montalbano mysteries by Andrea Camilleri.When members of Vigàta's elite are targeted in a series of perfectly executed burglaries, Inspector Montalbano reluctantly takes the case. It soon becomes clear however that more links these privileged few than simply their lost possessions . . . It isn't long too before Montalbano finds himself taken with one of the victims, the captivatingly beautiful young Angelica. But as the detective's attraction grows - until he can think of little else – a series of strange, anonymous letters claiming responsibility for the thefts begin to arrive . . .With the allure of Angelica beginning to consume him and his relationship with Livia under threat, Montalbano must focus his mind to solve this perplexing investigation before events spiral out of all control.Angelica's Smile is followed by the eighteenth book in the Sicilian mystery series, Game of Mirrors.

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The Patience of the Spider is the eighth novel in Andrea Camilleri's wryly humorous Inspector Montalbano series. Chief Inspector Montalbano is on enforced sick leave. But when a local girl goes mysteriously missing, the whole community takes an interest in the case. Why are the kidnappers so sure that the girl's impoverished father and dying mother will be able to find a fortune? The ever-inquisitive Montalbano steps in, to get to the heart of the matter in his own inimitable style.The Patience of the Spider is followed by the ninth novel in the series, Paper Moon.

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The Pyramid of Mud is the twenty-second Inspector Montalbano mystery from Italy's finest crime writer, Andrea Camilleri.It's been raining for days in Vigàta, and the persistent downpours have led to violent floods overtaking the Inspector's beloved hometown, sweeping across the land and leaving only a sea of mud behind. It is on one of these endless grey days that a man – a Mr Giuglù Nicotra – is found dead. His body discovered in a large sewage tunnel, half naked and with a bullet in his back.The investigation is slow and slippery to start with, but when Montalbano realizes that every clue he uncovers and every person he interviews is leading to the same place: the world of public spending – and with it, the Mafia – the case begins to pick up pace.But there's one question that keeps playing on Montalbano's mind: in his strange and untimely death, was Giuglù Nicotra trying to tell him something?The Pyramid of Mud is followed by the twenty-third gripping mystery, The Overnight Kidnapper.

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The Pyramid of Mud is the twenty-second Montalbano mystery from Italy’s finest crime writer, Andrea Camilleri.It’s been raining for days in Vigàta, and the persistent downpours have led to violent floods overwhelming the Inspector’s beloved hometown, sweeping across the land and leaving only a sea of mud behind. It is on one of these endless grey days that a man – a Mr Giuglù Nicotra – is found dead, his body discovered in a large sewage tunnel, half naked and with a bullet in his back. The investigation is slow and slippery to start with, but when Montalbano realizes that every clue he uncovers and every person he interviews is leading to the same place – the world of public spending and, with it, the Mafia – the case begins to pick up pace.But there’s one question that keeps playing on Montalbano’s mind: in his strange and untimely death, was Giuglù Nicotra trying to tell him something?The Pyramid of Mud is followed by the twenty-third gripping Montalbano mystery, The Overnight Kidnapper.

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The fifth in the hit Italian crime series by Andrea Camilleri, Excursion to Tindari is a darkly comic detective story featuring Inspector Montalbano.Maybe a phrase, a line, a hint somewhere would reveal a reason, any reason, for the elderly couple's disappearance . . . A young Don Juan is found murdered in front of his apartment building early one morning, and an elderly couple is reported missing after an excursion to the ancient site of Tindari – two seemingly unrelated cases for Inspector Montalbano to solve amid the daily complications of life at Vigàta police headquarters. But when Montalbano discovers that the couple and the murdered young man lived in the same building, his investigation stumbles onto Sicily's brutal 'New Mafia', which leads him down a path more evil and more far-reaching than any he has been down before.Excursion to Tindari is followed by the sixth novel in the Inspector Montalbano series, The Scent of the Night.

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Florence, October 1966. The rain is never-ending. When a young boy vanishes on his way home from school the police fear the worst, and Inspector Bordelli begins an increasingly desperate investigation.Then the flood hits. During the night of 4th November the swollen River Arno, already lapping the arches of the Ponte Vecchio, breaks its banks and overwhelms the city. Streets become rushing torrents, the force of the water sweeping away cars and trees, doors, shutters and anything else in its wake.In the aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy the mystery of the child's disappearance seems destined to go unsolved. But obstinate as ever, Bordelli is not prepared to give up.

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Blade of Light is the nineteenth gripping addition to the phenomenally successful Inspector Montalbano Sicilian mysteries by Andrea Camilleri.When a gentleman arrives at Montalbano's police station to report an armed robbery on his wife that ended with a kiss, the inspector's suspicions are aroused.As he delves deeper into the case, Montalbano finds that none of the witnesses' stories are adding up, and he can't help but feel that they're not meant to. When a body turns up showing all the signs of a mafia hit, the inspector knows he must excavate the truth from what he is being led to believe.Meanwhile there's a case that keeps winding its way back to Montalbano's office. A locked door has suddenly appeared on a farmer's disused shed, and then, just as quickly, the door disappears. The anti-terrorist police soon intervene, but why are they so keen to keep this away from the inspector? And why does he sense that this case is connected to him somehow?With deceit at every turn and a distraction of the heart taking over his head, Inspector Montalbano must focus if he is ever going to solve this mystery.Blade of Light is followed by the twentieth book in the Sicilian mystery series, A Voice in the Night.

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Andrea Camilleri's sensational and darkly humorous Inspector Montalbano series continues in the fourteenth instalment, The Age of Doubt. A chance encounter with a strange young woman leads Inspector Montalbano to Vigàta harbour – and into a puzzling new mystery. The crew of a mysterious yacht – the Vanna – due to dock in the area has discovered a corpse floating in the water, the dead man's face badly disfigured. It isn't long before Montalbano becomes suspicious of the Vanna's inhabitants. Who is the yacht's owner, the glamorous and short-tempered Livia Giovannini? How has she accrued her riches? And why does she spend so much time at sea? Meanwhile Montalbano finds himself getting into tangles with the dreaded Commissioner, the exasperating Dr Lattes and a very beautiful young woman at the harbour, with whom he becomes dangerously besotted . . . Can the Inspector clear his head long enough to unravel this murky mystery?The Age of Doubt is followed by The Dance of the Seagull, the fifteenth book in the series.'Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb' - Sunday Times

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August Heat by Andrea Camilleri is the tenth installment in the Inspector Montalbano series, now adapted as a major BBC4 television series. The lazy, slow month of August at the height of the Sicilian summer is, Inspector Montalbano assures his girlfriend Livia as they prepare for a relaxing holiday in a villa he has found for them, far too hot for any murders to be committed. But when Livia's friends' young son goes missing, a chain of events is sparked which will certainly ruin the Chief Inspector's pleasant interlude. A secret apartment and a grisly find in an old trunk are just the beginning, as Montalbano navigates his way through the case, as well as coping with the sweltering heat, the suspicious death of an Arab labourer and the tempting lure of a beautiful girl . . .August Heat is followed by the eleventh book in the series, The Wings of the Sphinx.

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Set on the coast of Sicily, The Safety Net is the twenty-fifth novel in the bestselling Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.***Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series***Vigàta is bustling as the new filming location for a Swedish television series set in 1950. In the production frenzy, the director asks the locals to track down movies and vintage photos to faithfully recreate the air of Vigàta at that time. Meanwhile, Montalbano is grappling with a double mystery, one that emerges from the past and another that leads him into the future . . .Engineer Ernesto Sabatello, rummaging in the attic of his house, finds some films shot by his father between 1958 and 1963, always on the same day, 27th March, and always the same shot: the outside wall of a country house. Montalbano hears the story and, intrigued, begins to investigate its meaning. Meanwhile, a middle school is threatened by a group of armed men, and a closer look at the case finds Montalbano looking into the students themselves and delving into the world of social media.

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Rome's most important and controversial archaeologist shows why the myth of the city's founding isn't all mythAndrea Carandini's archaeological discoveries and controversial theories about ancient Rome have made international headlines over the past few decades. In this book, he presents his most important findings and ideas, including the argument that there really was a Romulus--a first king of Rome--who founded the city in the mid-eighth century BC, making it the world's first city-state, as well as its most influential. Rome: Day One makes a powerful and provocative case that Rome was established in a one-day ceremony, and that Rome's first day was also Western civilization's.Historians tell us that there is no more reason to believe that Rome was actually established by Romulus than there is to believe that he was suckled by a she-wolf. But Carandini, drawing on his own excavations as well as historical and literary sources, argues that the core of Rome's founding myth is not purely mythical. In this illustrated account, he makes the case that a king whose name might have been Romulus founded Rome one April 21st in the mid-eighth century BC, most likely in a ceremony in which a white bull and cow pulled a plow to trace the position of a wall marking the blessed soil of the new city. This ceremony establishing the Palatine Wall, which Carandini discovered, inaugurated the political life of a city that, through its later empire, would influence much of the world.Uncovering the birth of a city that gave birth to a world, Rome: Day One reveals as never before a truly epochal event.

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A Nest of Vipers is the twenty-first novel in Andrea Camilleri’s irresistible Inspector Montalbano series.On what should be a quiet Sunday morning, Inspector Montalbano is called to a murder scene on the Sicilian coast. A man has discovered his father dead in his Vigàtan beach house, his body slumped on the dining room floor, his morning coffee spilled across the table, and a single gunshot wound at the base of his skull.First appearances point to the son having the most to gain from his father’s untimely death, a notion his sister can’t help but reinforce. But when Montalbano delves deeper into the case, and learns of the dishonourable life the victim led, it soon becomes clear half of Vigàta has a motive for his murder and this won’t be as simple as the inspector had once hoped . . .A Nest of Vipers is followed by the twenty-second gripping mystery, The Pyramid of Mud.

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The Shape of Water is the first in Andrea Camilleri's wry, brilliantly compelling Sicilian crime series, featuring Inspector Montalbano. When the body of respected and prominent engineer Silvio Luparello is discovered in the Pasture, a rubbish-strewn site brimming with drug dealers and prostitutes, the coroner’s verdict is death from natural causes – refreshingly unusual for Sicily.But Inspector Salvo Montalbano of the Vigàta police force, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case, despite pressure from Vigàta’s police chief, judge, and bishop. Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, carefully planted false clues, trigger-happy Mafia members, and delicious Sicilian fare, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter.The Shape of Water is followed by the second in this phenomenal series, The Terracotta Dog.

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Set in Sicily, The Terracotta Dog is the second novel in the humorous Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri.*Adapted for BBC4's Inspector Montalbano series*After a cloak and dagger exchange with an ageing Mafioso, Inspector Montalbano is left haunted by the man’s dying words, which lead him to a mountainside just west of Vigàta where he unearths two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terracotta dog.Heedless of personal danger, Montalbano’s drive to solve this old crime forces him on a journey through Sicily’s World War II history and to the dark heart of one family . . .The Terracotta Dog is followed by the third title in this satirical series, The Snack Thief.

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In The Sicilian Method, Andrea Camilleri's twenty-sixth novel in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series, a troubling murder invesitgation may see Montalbano find his answers on a theatre's stage . . .'[E]ven the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today' – GuardianMimi Augello is visiting his lover when the woman's husband unexpectedly returns to the apartment. Hurriedly he climbs out the window and into the downstairs apartment, but finds himself swinging from one danger to another. In the dark he sees a body lying on the bed.Shortly afterwards another body is found and the victim is Carmelo Catalanotti, a director of bourgeois dramas with a harsh reputation for the methods he has developed for his actors: digging into their complexes to unleash their talent, a traumatic experience for all. Are the two deaths connected? Catalanotti scrupulously kept notes and comments on all the actors he worked with – as well as strange notebooks full of figures, dates and names . . .Inspector Montalbano finds all of Catalanotti's dossiers and plays, the notes on the characters and the notes on his final drama, Dangerous Turn. Indeed, it is in the theatre where he feels the solution lies.

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Montalbano's First Case and Other Stories is a brilliant collection of short stories, personally chosen by Andrea Camilleri.It follows Inspector Montalbano from his very first case in Vigàta, in which he stumbles upon a young girl lurking outside a courthouse with a pistol in her handbag. When she is taken in for questioning and won't utter a single word, Montalbano must find another way to learn who she is trying to kill, and why . . .Other cases include a missing woman who has run away from the love of her life; an old married couple who appear to be rehearsing their suicides; and a crime so dark there's only one person the inspector can call for help.With twists and turns aplenty, these short stories have all the wit, mystery and culinary gusto that Camilleri's fans have come to love him for.

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From Andrea Camilleri, the bestselling author of the Inspector Montalbano mysteries, comes The Brewer of Preston, a hilarious standalone comedy.1870s Sicily. Much to the displeasure of Vigàta's stubborn populace, the town has just been unified under the Kingdom of Italy. They're now in the hands of a new government they don't understand, and they definitely don't like. Eugenio Bortuzzi has been named Prefect for Vigàta, a regional representative from the Italian government tasked to oversee the town. But the rowdy and unruly Sicilians don't care much for this rather pompous mainlander nor the mediocre opera he's hell-bent on producing in their new municipal theatre. The Brewer of Preston, it's called, and the Vigàtese are revving up to wreak havoc on the performance's opening night . . .

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Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2017. Spring, 1967. The trail of tragedy and destruction that followed the previous winter's flood seems to have died down; Florence is beginning to recover. But Inspector Bordelli does not feel the same sense of relief - he has not had a moment's peace since his investigation of a young boy's murder went disastrously wrong.Unsettled and embittered, Bordelli resigns from the force and leaves the city. He could not continue to work as a policeman while the perpetrators of such a terrible crime were still at large.Now, in the solitude of his new home in the Tuscan hills, he spends his days cooking, going for long walks and learning to grow his own vegetables. But the thought of that case - of justice not served - is constantly with him. Until fate, in which he has never believed, unexpectedly offers him the chance of retribution . . .

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April 1964, but spring hasn't quite sprung. The bad weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. And bad news is coming to the police station.First, Bordelli's friend Casimiro, who insists he's discovered the body of a man in a field above Fiesole. Bordelli races to the scene, but doesn't find any sign of a corpse. Only a couple of days later, a little girl is found at Villa Ventaglio. She has been strangled, and there is a horrible bite mark on her belly. Then another little girl is found murdered, with the same macabre signature.And meanwhile Casimiro has disappeared without a trace.The investigation marks the start of one of the darkest periods of Bordelli's life: a nightmare without end, as black as the sky above Florence.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL DAGGER 2013.Florence, 1965. A man is found murdered, a pair of scissors stuck through his throat. Only one thing is known about him - he was a loan shark, who ruined and blackmailed the vulnerable men and women who would come to him for help.Inspector Bordelli prepares to launch a murder investigation. But the case will be a tough one for him, arousing mixed emotions: the desire for justice conflicting with a deep hostility for the victim. And he is missing his young police sidekick, Piras, who is convalescing at his parents' home in Sardinia.But Piras hasn't been recuperating for long before he too has a mysterious death to deal with . . .

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