The Wings of the Sphinx: 11 (Inspector Montalbano Mystery) - Softcover

Camilleri, Andrea

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143116606 ISBN 13: 9780143116608

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1900

Synopsis

"You either love Andrea Camilleri or you haven't read him yet. Each novel in this wholly addictive, entirely magical series, set in Sicily and starring a detective unlike any other in crime fiction, blasts the brain like a shot of pure oxygen. Aglow with local color, packed with flint-dry wit, as fresh and clean as Mediterranean seafood -- altogether transporting. Long live Camilleri, and long live Montalbano." A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

Things are not going well for Inspector Salvo Montalbano. His relationship with Livia is once again on the rocks and--acutely aware of his age--he is beginning to grow weary of the endless violence he encounters. Then a young woman is found dead, her face half shot off and only a tattoo of a sphinx moth giving any hint of her identity. The tattoo links her to three similarly marked girls-all victims of the underworld sex trade-who have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a prominent Catholic charity. The problem is, Montalbano's inquiries elicit an outcry from the Church and the three other girls are all missing.

About this title

Review:

The best foreign crime fiction writing is as much to be found in the idiomatic prose of the field as it is in the exotic settings we are taken to. Both of these elements are delivered with the panache that is Andrea Camilleri’s signature in The Wings of the Sphinx. We are back in the company of Camilleri’s wily Sicilian copper Salvo Montalbano (he of the hyper-analytical mind, and endlessly indulged gourmet tastes). And we’re back on Commissario Montalbano’s stamping ground: the exquisite, sleepy territory of Vigata.

In the new book, the detective is going through a distinctly rocky patch with his long-distance lover, Livia, and he has other concerns: he is uneasily conscious of anno domini and the dispiriting effect of the violence that is such an omnipresent part of his job. At the same time, a gruesome discovery is made – the body of a young woman is found; half of her face has been blown away. The only clue to the dead woman’s identity is a tattoo – not of a dragon, but of another mythical creature: a sphinx – and she shares this mark with three other young women, Russian immigrants to Italy. All three are involved with the sex trade – and all three are missing.

All of this is authoritatively handed, and The Wings of the Sphinx (translated, as usual, by Stephen Sartarelli) will please Camilleri admirers. The Montalbano books follow certain pre-arranged patterns, but they are none the worse for that. Readers will be intrigued by Montalbano's disturbing professional case here – and the detective’s attempts to salvage his damaged relationship with his lover. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Praise for Andrea Camilleri and the Montalbano Series

"The idiosyncratic Montalbano is totally endearing."--The New York Times

"Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator."--The Washington Post Book World

"Hailing from the land of Umberto Eco and La Cosa Nostra, Montalbano can discuss a pointy-headed book like Western Attitudes Toward Death as unflinchingly as he can pore over crime-scene snuff photos. He throws together an extemporaneous lunch of shrimp with lemon and oil as gracefully as he dodges advances from attractive women."--Los Angeles Times

"[Camilleri's mysteries] offer quirky characters, crisp dialogue, bright storytelling--and Salvo Montalbano, one of the most engaging protagonists in detective fiction...Montalbano is a delightful creation, an honest man on Siciliy's mean streets."--USA Today

"Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator."--The Washington Post Book World

"Like Mike Hammer or Sam Spade, Montalbano is the kind of guy who can't stay out of trouble...Still, deftly and lovingly translated by Stephen Sartarelli, Camilleri makes it abundantly clear that under the gruff, sardonic exterior our inspector has a heart of gold, and that any outburst, fumbles, or threats are made only in the name of pursuing truth."--The Nation

"Camilleri can do a character's whole backstory in half a paragraph."--The New Yorker

"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' Los Angeles."--Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fills the air of Sicily."--Donna Leon

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1900
• ISBN 10: 0143116606
• ISBN 13: 9780143116608
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240