Voice of the Violin

An Inspector Montalbano Mystery

By: Translated by Stephen Sartarelli, Andrea Camilleri

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Audie Award, Mystery, 2009

Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a lovely, naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; an antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna, whose charms Montalbano cannot help but appreciate. But it is a reclusive violinist who holds the key to the murder.

Montalbano does not disappoint, bringing his compelling mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food to solve another riveting mystery.

Solve another mystery with Inspector Montalbano.©1997 Sellerio Editore (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator." ( Washington Post)

Lags in the middle, but not bad overall.

The title gives away too much, and the victim (already dead before the story begins) is the most interesting character. But overall, other than some rather dull filler in the middle, an entertaining mystery. The narrator reads clearly and expressively.

Good story, but not the best of Camilleri

Interesting plot, somewhat funny, but not the best of the Montalbano series. South Italy, landscape, relationship and routine. easy listening

Designer Italiano

Gucci of mysteries.…Ferrari performance and pace…listen to this book......you'll love it.

Made me go to the mapping function on my phone to view the geography of Sicily.

Typically great Camilleri Inspector Montalbano

Very good. Funny. Dark at times. Yearning in a man snuffed out by choice and need. Bad, immature and ignorant people along with the strange portrayed very well.

A Tragedy of Errors

Unlike other Montalbano stories I’ve heard, this one is more of a straight-ahead whodunnit, the action largely uninterrupted by the inspector’s relationship with Livia or any other ancillary characters, crimes, or complications. As Montalbano reflects at the end, it’s a story of “one mistake after another”, people and things being mistaken in ways that prolong the investigation and harm those involved in it.

As usual, Grover Gardner hands in a terrific performance.