The Sicilian Method

August 3, 2020
At the start of the late bestseller Camilieri’s enjoyable 26th mystery featuring Sicily’s Insp. Salvo Montalbano (after The Safety Net), Montalbano’s colleague Mimi Augello calls on the inspector early one morning to report that he discovered a dead man in a darkened apartment while fleeing an interrupted tryst with a married lover. When Mimi returns to the apartment with Montalbano in tow, the body is gone. Meanwhile, someone fatally stabs prickly theater director Carmelo Catalanotti, who was also a loan shark. As Montalbano investigates both cases, he begins an affair with the new chief of forensics, Antonia Nicoletti, which consumes him to the point that his longtime, long-distance girlfriend, Livia, breaks up with him. In an intriguing twist, Montalbano finds clues to the crimes in Catalanotti’s detailed dossiers on his borrowers and actors, who harbored hard feelings about casting Dangerous Corner, a labyrinthine English play of violence and betrayal. The blend of farce, sexual shenanigans, and strangely intense community theater intrigues as it amuses. Though Camilieri died in 2019, fans can hope that there’s at least one more adventure to come for his aging, cynical police inspector. Agent: Carmen Prestia, Alferjeprestia (Italy).

Grover Gardener's accomplished narration brings alive the whole cast of characters in this long-standing audiobook series. As slightly world-weary Inspector Montalbano is faced with a new case, he also finds himself coming to terms with the fact that both he and his relationship with his long-distance girlfriend, Livia, are aging--and not necessarily aging well. Among the members of Montalbano's team is lovable but bumbling Officer Catarella. Gardner's pacing allows the twists and turns to unfold, both in the case and in Montalbano's personal life. Notably, Stephen Sartarelli has done an excellent job translating the work from the original Italian. He ensures that the humor is maintained, including Catarella's malapropisms, which work well in the audio format. K.J.P. � AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine