The Shape of Water

By: Andrea Camilleri

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Early one morning, Silvio Lupanello, a big shot in the village of Vigata, is found dead in his car with his pants around his knees. The car happens to be parked in a rough part of town frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers, and as the news of his death spreads, the rumors begin. Enter Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Vigata's most respected detective, who has his doubts about the way Silvio died. With his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food, Montalbano goes into battle against the powerful and the corrupt who are determined to block his path to the real killer.

Andrea Camilleri's novels starring Inspector Montalbano have become an international sensation in eight languages. This funny and fast-paced Sicilian thriller will be a delicious discovery for mystery aficionados and fiction lovers alike.

Translated by Stephen Sartarelli.

Solve another mystery with Inspector Montalbano.©1994 Sellerio editore via Siracusa 50 Palermo; 2002 Stephen Sartarelli (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[This] savagely funny police procedural prove[s] that sardonic laughter is a sound that translates ever so smoothly into English." (New York Times Book Review)
"Subtle, sardonic, and molto simpatico: Montalbano is the Latin re-creation of Philip Marlowe, working in a place that manages to be both more and less civilized than Chandler's Los Angeles." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Hailing from the land of Umberto Eco and La Cosa Nostra, Montalbano can discuss a pointy-headed book like Western Attitudes Towards Death as unflinchingly as he can pore over crime-scene snuff photos. He throws together an extemporaneous lunch...as gracefully as he dodges advances from attractive women." (Los Angeles Times)

Elegant and light

And elegant and gracefully told tale that is almost more like a short story, that really focused on the human characters and the environment. It was very pleasant, and I feel like it could go in several directions, but I would certainly read more. Extremely well written overall.

Hard to follow in audio format, but well written

Grover Gardner was fantastic in narrating this. He always is. In fact, I found the book by putting his name into the audible search engine.

It is very witty, and a lot of fun… But the plot is so extraordinarily complex that I found it very hard to track all of the different characters.

I think perhaps the series would be better for me if I were to actually read it.

Not the best translation or narrator

I've been really wanting to read the Camilleri novels, since I've heard so many great things about them.

Unfortunately, this was a rather poor translation; on several occasions I was jolted out of the book by a word or phrase that just didn't work or was wrong. For example, a Sicilian word was translated as dawdling, and the translator explained that in Sicilian it meant to do nothing. So the character "dawdles" doing this and doing that about the house. First, a good translation never has to break the 'third wall' that way. Second, the English word is puttering or pottering, and if he had used that, no explanation would have been needed.

Secondly, the reader was rather stiff and rushed, and the characterizations were poor. The reader's style really didn't suit a book written partly in Sicilian dialect and set in a languid, relaxed place.

Overall, I was disappointed, especially since I could see the potential underneath these two problems.

Easy to follow, entertainng

The story was interesting. I enjoyed listening to this book. The second book, not so much.

A good beginning

I backtracked to this one because I started with Terra Cotta Dog and loved it so utterly that I had to know Montalbano from the beginning. This first one is definitely a delight, but Terracotta is much better, much funnier. Still, I'm glad I came back to the start. Buyers: Know that it only gets better. My only complaint about this one is that it's SO SHORT! Barely an evening by the fire. That can be a mercy when you're reading someone awful, but sad when it's as good as this one.

AUDIO: The reader is an excellent choice. He's not totally perfect, but close enough. He has a good sense of, and is a good fit for, this wonderful character.