The Shape of Water
Paper, ISBN 0 14 20.0239 9
The Terra Cotta Dog
Paper, ISBN 0 14 20.0263 1
The Snack Thief
Paper, ISBN 0 14 20.0349 2
Voice of the Violin
Hard cover, ISBN 0-670-03143-7

our from Viking Penguin will stack up to a jolly summer's reading, unless you can't put these thrillers down long enough to do your necessary chores. Meet Sicilian Inspector Salvo Montalbano, who always gets his man, but whose woman still hasn't thoroughly tied him up by the end of the fourth book.

Montalbano and his elusive ladylove (who likes to insist that he's the elusive one), the two major characters, persist throughout the series, with enough local others in each offering to flesh out whole communities. Readers will be charmed by some, astonished by others, and sad to see often leading figures go, usually to an untimely end. There's enough violence, dirty language, and general skullduggery for fans of R movies; enough tenderness, love scenes, and flowery settings to please the most desolate romantic; and enough adventure, plot twists,unexpected outcomes, and cultural accuracy to make everything look as real as a travelogue.

Translator Stephen Sartarelli, a name in his own right in the literary world, offers a lively and entertaining English that's never stiff or labored, but which convinces the reader that nothing's either left out or fudged to compensate for linguistic difficulties. It was only after finishing the second book that I realized that notes at the end of each story made the puns, idioms, traditional dishes, festivals, and pranks a virtual introduction to the glories and raffishness of Sicilian customs and cuisine. Don't miss these notes! By the time I'd finished the series I was willing to buy a ticket just to try out the food.

From local big shots, one of whom is found in a lover's lane, largely populated by hookers and their clients, with his pants around his lifeless ankles, through mysteries harking back to World War II, all the way to an urchin almost adopted by Montalvano and his lady, they're all real people, people we're sorry we can't know in person. The style is raucous, the action a runaway romp, and the emotion genuine. These are books worth buying. The first three are paperbacks, at a very reasonable price. The Viking edition of Voice of the Violin was published in 2003, so should be out in paper by now. They're all undoubtedly available at Barnes and Noble, and I've ascertained that they're definitely listed in Amazon.com.

© Sandy McKinney