About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

THE PATIENCE OF THE SPIDER
by Andrea Camilleri
Penguin, April 2007
256 pages
$13.00
ISBN: 0143112031


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Inspector Salvo Montalbano is on medical leave as he recovers from the life-threatening wounds received during the investigation in ROUNDING THE MARK. Therefore it is surprising that he is called out on an investigation in the middle of the night. Susanna Mistretta went missing on the way home from a friend's house and her parents fear the worst.

Montalbano is called to the scene to help handle the situation until another officer can be sent out. His superiors believe Montalbano is capable of supervising a scene and other administrative tasks but do not want him actively involved in the investigation.

It seems likely that Susanna was kidnapped even though a ransom demand has not been sent within the first 24 hours. Montalbano finds several things fishy about the situation including the fact that Susanna went home via a different route that night. Then the kidnappers finally present their ransom request. Her parents do not have much money; yet, the kidnappers seem to believe their demands can be meet.

Montalbano is the only one to wonder how the kidnappers know things about the Mistretta family that no one else does. He begins his own investigation, as his colleagues do not have the same suspicions about the kidnappers. Only by digging into the secrets of the Mistretta family will Montalbano discover the truth and return the victim to her family.

THE PATIENCE OF THE SPIDER is pretty typical of the Inspector Montalbano series. Montalbano has his place in society and within the police department. Even though he does not always play politics, he is a capable detective, who frequently catches the villain. His relationships with his housekeeper, his girlfriend and his colleagues exist but are distant. An explanation of this distance can be seen in the situation with his girlfriend in this book. While Livia comes to help him recover from the surgery, he is also glad when she goes home. His solitude is important to him and he does not like it when this is disturbed.

The pace of the story is very different from many American and British mysteries as is the importance place on family, food, culture and society. These differences are some of the things I like best about Andrea Camilleri's mysteries. I always look forward to the latest release.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, May 2007

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]