Name: The Shape of Water (Montalbano 1)
ISBN: 9780330492867

Andrea Camilleri

The goats of Vigàta once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavour. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily. But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, 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 - even though he's being pressured by Vigàta's police chief, judge, and bishop.

An Inspector Montalbano Mystery 

The Shape of Water (Montalbano 1)

Library Edition

The Shape of Water

Aims

Molly Bridge

Laura Mauler

Really amateur writing. There are jumps between scenes with no warning, there are characters who aren't explained for several full pages, most descriptions were perfunctory. And worst of all, even with all the murder and sex and whatnot, it was dull. Of all the things a book can be, boring is the only unpardonable sin.

Wonderful. Despite being the first book, there's little scene setting; as if the author has just opened a window onto a small theatrical performance. Lots of humour (some of it dark) and you’ll do well to figure out the twists and turns. I didn’t!  

Jan Jackson

Gavin

Cynical but not very cynical, funny but not very funny. Uses food for comic and existential relief between murders. Maybe Sicilians or Sicily fans love the book's local colour, but meh. Half a point to compensate for possible bad translation.

The shape of water

Sian Wadey

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

I read this after catching half of Inspector Montalbano on the BBC. Having read a few foreign novels (translated into English mind!) I had some idea of what to expect.
For a start, I would've thought it was written in English, you cannot tell at all that it is translated from Italian. But there were some problems with the plot. Although I felt it was well written, I didn't particularly care about the characters and what happened to them. I also felt that Camilleri left far too much open. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I couldn't tell you who killed the victim and why. 
On the other hand, I loved Montalbano himself, and Fazio and am looking forward to reading more about them. This wasn't brilliant, but it wasn't all that bad and I flew through it pretty quickly.

The Shape of Water (Montalbano 1) An Inspector Montalbano Mystery

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