August Heat: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery

This Camilleri mystery may not be the place to start for those just arriving on the scene because the investigation is a darker one, involving a murdered adolescent, and because Montalbano himself makes some decisions that serial readers will consider surprising but newer readers may not appreciate as shockingly anomalous. Camilleri does not disappoint. We readers continue our education in Sicilian manners and mannerisms, this time with an emphasis on building codes and almost unendurable summer heat. Montalbano enjoys a couple of good meals, defies bureaucracy, drinks whisky, repeatedly swims into the ever more polluted sea, and, in spite of his best intentions, continues to flounder in his romantic life with long-time love Livia. The murder case itself is unraveled precipitously close to the conclusion of the book but there is further excitement at the end here since the ramifications of Inspector Montalbano's behavior, only in part attributable to his aging, must certainly be dealt with in the next account of this wholly pleasing series.

A strange little book is this "August Heat," clearly not Camilleri's best work, sorry to say. The plot is simple and contrived. The first 1/4 of the book is hilariously funny. The last 3/4 of the book almost completely lacks humor, except for a line or two here and there. In fact, the overall tale is quite dark and rather unappealing. The finale is disappointing, obvious, and transparent -- to the point of ridiculousness. The crimes and their tortured solutions are, simply put, uninteresting and unremarkable. The buried "lower apartment," so central to this story, was in fact almost impossible to picture clearly in your mind - you know, like from a blueprint perspective. I just didn't "get it."

Throughout the story, Inspector Montalbano sinks deeper into self-absorption, self-pity and his boring neurotic fixation on his own aging, so thematically present in the last 2 or 3 novels in this series. Montalbano has lost, unfortunately - at least for me - a lot of the appeal he once enjoyed as a man, as an inspector, as a fictional "flawed-but-good-guy-hero."

Adrianna, the main female character in this book is transparent and strangely "evil" in her own eerie way. Nothing she does or says comes across as honest, believable or trustworthy. From start to finish, she is wholly unlikable and unpleasant. She's no Livia!

I miss the steady, clear-headed, and believably emotional presence of Livia, Montalbano's apparently now-estranged girl friend/lover. Her voice of reason and ordinariness is sadly missing in this little story. Montalbano is not the same man without her. How many times do we have to read about his taking a long shower? 20? Kind of tiresome, no? And his ocean swims, that used to refresh him (and us), now only underscore his pathetic obsession about his lot in life. Honestly, I'm tired of his feeling so bloody sorry for himself. It's a turn off. And, once again in the middle of the novel, when the story line needs a lift, Camilleri resorts to the strange letter, summarizing the evidence, that Montalbano writes to himself, something he has done in at least two of the books now, an action that I think is totally out-of-character for him.

Once again, however, one of the best parts of the book is its strict adherence to the clear personalities of many recurring, interesting players. I particularly adore Catarella, the ditzy receptionist/office manager, who is usually called "Cat." The translation is first rate, as always. The dialogue, in addition to the laugh-out-loud humor in the first pages, is truly well-done. The notes at the book's end are, as always, very interesting.

"August Heat" is a fast and mostly enjoyable read, if only to bring you back into contact with some familiar, interesting, well-drawn fictional friends. It's a quick, almost comic-book-like read, worthy of 3 stars. You have done much better, Mr. Camilleri! But, I wonder, is it perhaps Camilleri the author himself, rather than fictional 55 year-old Montalbano, who is aging? After all, in September he will be 84. Is it time to bring this successful, once-fun series to an end? Perhaps.

But not Inspector Montalbano. It is August in Sicily and Salvo Montalbano is not only wilting under the hot summer son but he's also beginning to get the `middle-aged' blues. To make matters worse, his girl friend Livia has decided to visit. That wouldn't be so bad except she has invited another family to accompany them and has instructed Montalbano to do the impossible: rent a summer beach house on the Sicilian coast without any prior notice. He manages, grudgingly, to find a beach house but when the guests arrive their young son disappears within steps of the beach house. What Montalbano uncovers during his search for the child and his subsequent investigation into that discovery forms the plot for Andrea Camilleri's "August Heat".

August Heat is the tenth in a series of Inspector Montalbano stories. Set in the fictional town of Vigata, Sicily, the series for me has always been marked by the larger-than life personality of Inspector Montalbano. Montalbano is a very appealing character. He is a Sicilian with a temper. He doesn't suffer fools gladly even when those fools happen to be authority figures. He has an enormous appetite for good food and each book contains reference to his never ending search for a tasty, well-prepared dish. His relationship with his long-time, long-distance lover, Livia, also plays a recurring role in the series and in "August Heat", the tension between them over the lost boy at the beach house seems to put their relationship in jeopardy.

As a fan of the series I have to admit being a bit disappointed by August Heat. Montalbano's ruminations on his own mortality marked a different tone from the earlier volumes and seemed to be a bit of a drag not only on Montalbano but also on this reader. That said, there is still a lot to like in August Heat. I enjoyed the plot and continue to enjoy Montalbano's relationship with his recurring cast of characters. I also love the picture he paints of life in Sicily. I realize this is a work of fiction but as I've read through the books in the series I can't help but feel as if I am getting a little taste of Sicily in each volume. My enjoyment of the book, therefore, probably stems as much from my enjoyment of the series as a whole. If this were the first Montalbano book I'd read I may not have rushed out to buy a half dozen more in the series. But it remained a very pleasant book to read while suffering through summer heat in a location far from Sicily.

The translation by Stephen Sartarelli should also be mentioned. Apparently much of the dialogue in the original is very idiomatic and reflects much of the slang common to Sicily. Sartarelli has done a very good job keeping much of the dialogue quirky enough in English to convey some of the changes in dialect set out in the original. The Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko once said that "Translation is like a woman. If it is beautiful, it is not faithful. If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful." I get the feeling Sartarelli, by using idiomatic English slang (a Brooklyn accent or so it seems) for one character has gone for beauty and as a result the prose is very fluid and does not have the feel of a translation.

As far as summer reading is concerned, this is a perfectly enjoyable book even if it isn't Camilleri's best. L. Fleisig

Inspector Salvo Montalbano has been forced to stay in Vigata and work during August after a colleague extends his vacation. As luck would have it, Livia, his long distant love decides to join him, she doesn't expect Montalbano to be busy after all who would have the energy to commit a crime in this August heat. But to be on the safe side she's bringing her friends and their young son to keep her company. Montalbano secures a beach rental for the family while Livia spends evenings with him.

Montalbano is called to the beach house quite a few times over the next nine days as there seems to be a few problems, swarms of cockroaches, spiders and mice seem to have also taken up residents the family are not amused. Some would believe that this house was cursed especially when the little boy suddenly disappears. Montalbano rushes over to solve the case; the boy had fallen into a narrow shaft below the house, the boy is found and pulled to safety. Montalbano never satisfied decides to check what lays underneath the house, not only does he discover a small room below but within a chest a girls dead body. Montalbano mission now was to find out how this girl came to be at her final resting place and who was responsible to take a life so young. Sinister and corrupt forces build a bigger foundation.

Andrea Camilleri has kept this Interesting, he writes it, I read between the lines and pause for thought! Camilleri has chosen to write quiet clearly about the day to day levels of corruption in Sicily; even the little things in every day life and how Montalbano has to deal with those different levels of corruption to get his results. There are many different angles of corruption added to the layering of this book; Government corruption has profound effects on the country as a whole, but looking at a bigger picture Sicily's not the only country with that problem!, while no two countries are alike, there are common dilemmas for all to see. For instance; corruption and poverty affect both individuals and businesses, and they run in both directions: poverty invites corruption, while corruption deepens poverty. Another addressed in this storyline would be the corrupt markets and public bidding processes, inefficient firms and dishonest bidders have major advantages over honest competitors. Connections and cash, rather than innovation and excellence, become the way to win contracts. We all know in our own countries where a level of corruption starts and never ends. So while countries remain different, corruption anywhere share the same knock-on-effects!

Which now brings us to another hot topic Livia and Montalbano's relationship, a turn for the worst, normally they would argue it out in a healthy way of dealing with one another, and she in turn takes the no nonsense approach in his darker moods. But this time his dark mood goes too far, his only voice of reason has left him and Livia remains silent. He falls into quiet a deep melancholy mood spending time with a much younger women doesn't help as his questioning himself, age and life.

Montalbano character is always great to read, for his questionable brainstorms and unorthodox subversive opinions. Still the rebel, the thinker, not afraid to explore all areas even into obsession. Tenth book in this series and the story forms nicely enjoyable, but not as strong as others in the series, all Montalbano mysteries normally start in comedy but this one is darker than others more of horror and melodrama but there still remains a lot of human interest in every plot. Again the characterization and language the usage of dialogue has been kept real with sharp wit, the sly comments on Italian life and culture always keeps things for me amusing and interesting.

A special mention to poet Stephen Sartarelli, I'm thoroughly enjoying his clear translation of each book and for the informative notes given at the back on wording. Thank you.

Eleventh in the series is due out December 2009 - Le ali della sfinge - The Wings of the Sphinx!

Andrea Bowhill

Something dire has happened in Montelusa: Montalbano finds himself fighting for his survival. How will he escape this flat-footed, contrived plot and live to fight another day? All the majesterial depths of the other Montalbano books, treasured for the subtlties of plotting, the corrosive political issues raised, the well-rounded main characters, and set against that enchanted landscape, which have made Camillieri the biggest selling Sicilian writer since Giuseppi Tomasi di Lampedusa, have been kidnapped, tortured and cruelly slain.
Be prepared for utter disappointment.
You know an author is in trouble when he starts playing for cheap laughs. By wheeling the inept Catarella to centre stage in this plodding novel, with his repeating 'poisonally in poison' over and over again until I thought I'd weep, the irksomeness of what was originally a brilliant comic turn (and cleverly translated by Sartarelli into Brooklynese)took it's toll and I began to wonder if this book was actually written by Camilieri himself poisonally in poison.
Could August Heat have been computer generated? It has the feel of something untouched by human hands and certainly not by the heart.
If you can bear not reading this new Montalbano but long for more of the great Camillieri, I suggest you go back and re-read his earlier and wonderfully rich books instead.

I've read about a half-dozen of the Inspector Montalbano books and I thought this one was the best I've read. The others were "lite" and humorous, but this book was more serious and the characters had much more depth. For example, Detective Fazio was treated seriously for the first time, becoming a "real" cop. I think the author had something important to say about aging and he used this book to say it.

Andrea Camilleri has delivered yet another fine read in the Inspector Montalbano series.

Montalbano's love of Sicilian food, his tweaking of bureaucratic noses, as well as the idiosyncratic characters which populate this book, bring texture, color, and even some humor to a plot which revolves around Montalbano's discovery of the body of a young girl. Camilleri takes us for a ride through a heat-drenched Sicilian landscape (caught in an August heatwave) -- a ride in which we encounter corruption, a house that seems possessed, and a beautiful young woman. It is only at the very end of the book that we realize, as we discover ourselves falling, that Camilleri has driven us off a cliff.

Again, another excellent job of translation by Stephen Sartarelli, who deserves great credit for providing us a text which reads effortlessly in English.

And a quick note on the cover art, too -- the washed-out pastels nicely capture the sense of summer heat which is soon encountered within the book's pages.

As usual packed with humour, sunlight and delicious Italian food, this latest Montalbano detective story offers an intriguing puzzle with a lot of local colour. In August heat (and how hot can Southern Italy be!), Montalbano's love interest, Livia, and her friends rent a villa by the beach. When the child Bruno disappears down a crack in the ground, another storey of the house is discovered, built illegally to await an amnesty on building code regulations. This flouting of the law does not seem to worry anyone, even the law enforcers, and it is not until a body is discovered in a trunk in the concealed premises that the detective department launches an investigation.

The only criticism of this great series is the translation of Catarella's speech which has him speaking more like a Los Angele's hoodlum than a rather slow-witted officer from the South of Italy.

This review is part of a literary investigation: Does the national or cultural identity of the detective reflect the nation or culture in which he or she lives? With respect to behavior, mode of solving the mystery, political reflections, or idiosyncrasies? For inspector Montealbano, I believe, yes!

The story is imbedded in that type of criminality I - with all my prejudices and stereotypes - connect with Italy. The inspector himself is occasionally cheating and lying and being brutal (although he regrets it (p. 123). The story obviously has political messages, the inspector even reads Sjöwall & Wahlöö, the Swedish authors that write "justified attacks on social democracy", p. 118. And there are 5 pages of notes at the end that make references to Italian society. The mode of solving the mystery is probably traditional reasoning (Sherlock Holmes type) although the accompanying Dr. Watson is more intelligent than the original. However, this inspector would never be able to sole his mysteries from his home. The other characters in the story are believable, some on the border line, but then it is the borderline cases that supposedly inhabit mystery novels. Again resting on my prejudices about Italy, the characters could be typical of (Southern) Italy, probably not the Palestine - for example (Matt Rees). So, if I believe the atmosphere of the story, did I support my prejudices or did I support a real picture? (T. Walas.1995. Stereotypes and Nations.) I believe the latter.

I liked the story. The culprit was not the person I assumed, but the mystery's solution had a twist that was surprising to me. The inspector and his associates make funny jokes, but not more than comfortably. It is a book one would have liked to read in its original language

In this mystery the venerable A. Camilleri stuck his photo right up front, instead of in the back. So you have to get past an old, paunchy man( with a coffin nail dangling from his lip) guarding the novel like Cerberus guards Hades. I guess this is someones idea of attractive. Anyway, we find our hero aging in the Sicilian summer heat. His formidable deductive powers are slipping. His relationship with his long-time girlfriend Livia is on the rocks. The August heat is so oppressive Montabalno's clothes stick to his back like his shoes stick to the hot pavement. This is as close as I can get to Sicily without getting a passport. As usual Camilleri adroitly captures the essence of maffiosi, bureaucratic layers of overlapping police jurisdictions, serpentine inter-twining of political and maffia corruption.

The plot hums along nicely. Montabalno, the aging protaginist, is tempted by big lunches and a young hottie. He gives in to seduction by a young siren and his usual wolfish appetite for food.

Alas, he comes to realize he is an old fool who has been used; and, his deductive powers are slipping. This plot rings true.

Once again I have enjoyed my brief soujourn to Sicily sans the 12 hour flight.