Product Description

Maybe a phrase, a line, a hint somewhere would reveal a reason, any reason, for the elderly couple's disappearance. They'd saved everything ...there was even a copy of the 'certificate of living existence', that nadir of bureaucratic imbecility ...What was the 'protocol', to use a word dear to government offices? Did one simply write on a sheet of paper something like: 'I, the undersigned, Salvo Montalbano, hereby declare myself to be in existence', sign it, and turn it in to the appointed clerk?A young Don Juan is found murdered in front of his apartment building early one morning, and an elderly couple is reported missing after an excursion to the ancient site of Tindari - two seemingly unrelated cases for Inspector Montalbano to solve amid the daily complications of life at Vigata police headquarters. But when Montalbano discovers that the couple and the murdered young man lived in the same building, his investigation stumbles onto Sicily's brutal 'New Mafia', which leads him down a path more evil and more far-reaching than any he has been down before. Praise for Andrea Camilleri: 'A joy to read' - "The Times". 'This savagely funny police procedural proves that sardonic laughter is a sound that translates ever so smoothly into English' - "New York Times".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22976 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

TLS
'a joy, teasing us down leafy lanes and into dimly lit cafes in
the suburbs of Vigata'

Sunday Times
'his writing reveals a profound understanding of human weakness'

About the Author

Andrea Camilleri is one of Italy’s most famous contemporary writers. The Montalbano mystery series has been translated into nine languages and the novels have been bestsellers all over Europe. EXCURSION TO TINDARI is the fifth in the series. The author lives in Rome.

Stephen Sartarelli is a poet and translator. He lives in France.

Customer Reviews

things are not what they seem
This novel belongs to the Montalbano series. Comisar Montalbano is a policeman with a hunting instinct: when a case or a clue scratch his instict, he cannot give it up.
In this case, he has to work on two different cases: a young man killed in his doormat and the disappearance of a retired couple which had made a trip to Tindari.
As the research goes on, he is faced with darker and darker findings: the mafia, the fight among the different clans, the new computer-based crimes, the total lack of respect for human life and dignity.
The plot is not the best in the world (and the author doesn't need it either) but the atmosphere captures the reader from the beginning.
The good thing about Camilleri's novels (both Montalbano and the "historical" series)is that they are humorous, ironic, lighthearted, and at the same time bitter, rebel, unsatisfied. Montalbano and his men know that they cannot beat the mafia: it is too deeply engraved in Sicily, its politicians, institutions, in the people. But however they go on working for the sake of decent people, feeling a deep concern for innocence, justice - if only poetic- and truth. Montalbano, an ex rebel of year 68, whose political simpathy leans "neither right nor center" is not very liked by police authorities and has a peculiar love story with a genovese girl friend. He enjoys sicilian cooking, landscape and people. However, the author doesn't fall into italian folklorism.
Camilleri's novels are also a constant homage to his revered master Luigi Pirandello and all the good sicilian writers like his friend Sciascia.
Good read. Unputdownable.

Exquisite Mysteries, Little Personal Plots, Tiny Pleasures, and Sardonic Humor
Excursion to Tindari has some of the best humor based on human elimination since Rabelais. Who else but Andrea Camilleri would indulge his character development in such an imaginative and earthy way?

An ongoing theme in the book is the troubled nature of love between men and women. You will find the exposition to provide much room for chuckles and smiles.

The mysteries are subtle and puzzling . . . with the ultimate causal strings well hidden until near the end. Those who love challenging mysteries will feel well rewarded.

Ultimately, Excursion to Tindari is more character development about Inspector Montalbano than it is a mystery. But the book is much more mystery, if you look only at that dimension, than all but a few mysteries that will come out in any given year. As someone who loves great character development and difficult-to-solve mysteries, I was in heaven while reading this delightful book.

A young man is assassinated, professional-style, on his doorstep. He comes from a poor family and his work doesn't pay much. Where did he get all those expensive belongings?

An unfriendly elderly couple takes an excursion on a bus to Tindari, and don't even get off the bus until just before the trip ends. After that, no one can find them. What's going on?

A Mafia don tells Montalbano to call on him. Even with great caution, can Montalbano avoid being used for the don's purposes?

In the background, Montalbano is very upset to learn that Mimi Augello, his right hand man, has fallen in love with a policewoman in another town and is thinking about moving. Can anything be done?

The book has only three highlights for Montalbano: His favorite tree provides inspiration and answers; he has an unexpectedly pleasant meal with a beautiful and agreeable young woman; and he can always seem to find some wonderful food to distract him from his annoyances and frustrations.

The contrasts between the inner Montalbano and the public one are nicely and humorously drawn. As always, the politics of the police are displayed in Keystone-Kops-like ways. You could laugh about the funny parts of this book for days.

Bravo to both Andrea Camilleri and his brilliant translator, Stephen Sartarelli!

Such a joy
I love these books. Camilleri writes with such a love of his characters and country and it oozes from every page. Montalbano is so real, a rough and ready cop, a fighter for human dignity and the old school way of doing things, butting up against nodern technology and corruption and taking it head on. In this book, an elderly couple go missing after an organized day trip and Montalbano is sent to investigate. Their seemingly ordinary lives start to unravel and Montalbano is there to pick up the pieces and restore order.