Customer Reviews

The Paper Moon (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Inspector Montalbano wakes this time not by his inner alarm clock but from one he now sets each night to wake him prompt each morning. His usual slapstick routine of starting the day had fallen by the wayside, irrelevant random thoughts had been plaguing his mind, with a touch of forgetfulness, tiredness and that feeling of age had suddenly creep upon him.

Within ten minutes of being at the station Montalbano is confronted by Signorina. Michela Pardo who cannot locate her brother Angelo, he may have been forty-two but had been missing for some forty eight hours and would always call when away. After a few questions and being won over by Michela's deep, violet lake eyes he was willing to check out her brother's apartment. Montalbano stumbles into a gruesome situation on Angelo's terrace, a man shot at point blank range in the face presented in a rather lewd position.

As things begin to unfold Angelo Pardo the victim was certainly appearing to be no saint. A former doctor struck off the Medical Association ten years earlier after indecent relations with a female patient. Montalbano also had suspicions and doubts about Angelo's job as a medical/pharmaceutical `Informer' and the wealth that seemed to go with it, not only was he lacking a bank account, the money had instead been spent on lavish expensive gifts for his mistress. Then there was Angelo's computer, three files protected by passwords and within secret codes were used! What for? Threatening letters had been found but a strongbox Angelo kept was missing. Montalbano sized up possible motives female entanglements or shady influence in the medical profession with plenty of suspects past and present to go with both, or was it something else? While Montalbano's faithful team cracked codes and follow all other leads including a political one, Montalbano on the other hand was looking for trouble and decided his line of enquiry, presence was best felt with the ladies.

Andrea Camilleri has done wonders with the character Inspector Salvo Montalbano over the years, always in hot water with female trouble, his moods dark, aging but not lacking in sophistication and charm it just melts right off the pages. In this book Montalbano wits become changellened against the leading ladies Michela Pardo and Elena Sclafani but its Montalbano inner thoughts about these two which adds to the comedy. His team follow him as he leadeth them into temptation; always using his unorthodox route to get an answer, meanwhile the description of a chaotic police station always cracks me with a smile. The whole series has a timeless feel, for any thinking of starting to read they clearly deserve to be read from the beginning.

Camilleri has written a wonderful Montalbano Mystery series, this book is the ninth in the series and again he doesn't disappoint. All Montalbano mysteries start in comedy but end in horror or melodrama but its all done with lots of human interest in every plot. This novel I found to start slower than others but it soon picked up pace and again the ending was a gem with its darker twists. What I love about this whole series would be the characterisation and language the usage of dialogue in conversation, directness, it's all been kept real with sharp dry wit and ironic comedy moments, the sly comments on Italian life and culture keeps things amusing and interesting. A big also for me is the passion for great flavoured foods, all the dishes in these books are mouth-watering and endless, described so vividly you can almost taste them.

This is also where I bring in my special thank you to poet Stephen Sartarelli who has translated each book smoothly and clearly managing to keep its humour throughout and for the informative notes given at the back on wording, I would also say notes are always advised to be read before reading the novels.

Another thoroughly enjoyable read in the series.

Andrea Bowhill

Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano mystery series is one of life's great pleasures. Wonderful, witty writing. Humanity and terrible inhumanity juxtaposed. Complex characters with meat on their bones and, sometimes, evil (or larceny, lust, hate or greed) in their hearts. "The Paper Moon" has all of these winning qualities plus a terrific, multi-layered and serpentine plot.

In "The Paper Moon," The indefatigable Inspector Salvo Montalbano faces a trio of formidable female antagonists while sorting out a murder with erotic trappings, and he doesn't have a solution until the last few pages of the novel. And this, for me, is one of the most enjoyable things about Camilleri's stories--the complexity of their plots rarely gives away the ending before it is actually reached. The setting for the book being Sicily, there is always a whiff of the Mafia in the story's telling, but the author never resorts to the obvious in bringing it to a close.

A perennial bonus look at Sicily and Sicilian society is part and parcel of "The Paper Moon" as well.
This is one of Camilleri's most enjoyable stories to date. Highly recommended.

"The Paper Moon" by Andrea Camilleri.
Translated by Stephen Sartarelli. Penguin Books, 2008.

I thought I had him. I have enjoyed the "Inspector Montalbano Series" by Andrea Camilleri and I thought that I had figured out this book. The plot was straight forward, (or so I thought).
It had to be organized crime taking vengeance on the dead man, Angelo Pardo; we would discover the reason as the book progressed. The two beautiful young ladies were just thrown in to build up the emphasis on the sexual innuendo of the murder. But, what beauties they are! In other Inspector Montalbano mysteries, Andrea Camilleri has emphasized Italian cooking, so much so that it is impossible to read his novels without becoming hungry. In "The Paper Moon", he describes the physical attributes of the two ladies with the same skill in writing. The ladies, however, appear to be the main suspects. Page by page the author builds up the case against first one woman and than against the other and then both as a team! I was certain I knew which woman was the murderess. I will not spoil the book by telling you whether or not I was right or wrong.

In most of his books, the author uses the character of Catarella as comic relief. On page 211, Catarella comes across as true person. He is working on a set of three computer files, trying to determine a pass word, (Catarella's malapropism is "past word"), which would permit Inspector Montalbano to ascertain where Angelo Pardo's money was coming from and where the money went. All of a sudden, the computer screen goes blank and the three files disappear. Catarella screams, "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"! Catarella sees all the work and hours going down into the black face of the monitor.

Once, I was on an engineering team, performing a reliability assessment of the computers at Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas. The electrical power in the town in Malaysia was always going off. My fellow engineer was just about to save all his work when the lights dimmed and went out. He screamed, "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh", just like Catarella. Unlike Catarella, my fellow engineer stood up, yelled "F----" and punched the computer monitor on the side of the cabinet. So, Andrea Camilleri has captured a vignette that rings true to life ... and, by the way, made me want to read more of his analyses of life in a police setting.

As usual, in the Inspector Montalbano mysteries, the reader does not get a hint at the origin of the title until late in the book. Also as usual, Stephen Sartarelli has done an excellent and engaging job of translating from the Italian.

Our dear Inspector Salvo Montalbano is approached by a woman desperate for his assistance because her dear brother has been missing for 2 days, and as he accompanies her to her brother's apartment to search the place, they find him in a chair with his face shot off.

The investigation into the murder leads to many sharp twists and turns. As suspects are considered and a motive for the murder contemplated, the victim's hidden life starts to emerge. Montalbano sifts through the clues and you see him look at them from all angles before he puts it in boxes he keeps in his head, to be taken out from time to time like odd pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, and placed against other odd pieces to see if they will fit and form a more comprehensible picture.

In the midst of the investigation, a couple of influential political figures are found dead as a result of a dose of poorly cut cocaine. But is there even a link to the dead man Montalbano found?

We are not who we always present ourselves to be, and sometimes the secrets will surface and prove to be our undoing.

This book had me in its grips from the get go and also chuckling at some of the more humorous moments.

This review actually applies to all of the Montalbano mysteries. They are, in my opinion, a perfectly balanced product; clear, sparse writing style (kudos to translator Sartarelli), a reasonable length, a fantastically engaging main character with equal parts pith, humor, grit, brusqueness, and humanity...one is reminded of the Chandler quote:"If I wasn't hard, I wouldn't be alive. If I couldn't ever be gentle, I wouldn't deserve to be alive."
Add to this a mouth-watering array of Sicilian cuisine, a wonderful supporting cast of quirky characters jincluding many intriguing and beautiful women, lots of local color, and what's not to like??
These books are instant classics, and they stand with the best work of Simenon because of their essential humanity.

"The Paper Moon" is the ninth in a series of Inspector Montalbano mysteries. Far be it from me to give away the plot, but one criticism might be that the guilty party is more obvious than usual. Nevertheless, Camilleri's formula works. Montalbano goes about his investigation in his idiosyncratic manner, taking time for culinary adventures, literary allusions, and thoughts about women. Overall, reading the book is a worthwhile and entertaining experience.

The inspector is ambivalent about his personal life, but he is also a dedicated and intuitive policemen. The scenes of Sicily are well drawn. The translation is a minus; it was written by a Englishman who tried to convey a Sicilian country accent by writing it in phonetic Brooklynese. There are other errors in word usage. Also he seems ignorant of the face that Italian women keep their own last names when married. Otherwise it was a good read.

But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me" Harold Arlen

Well, it isn't a canvas eye hanging over a muslin tree that Inspector Montalbano wishes were make-believe. Rather it is the body of a man shot in the face in his apartment. Inspector Montalbano is in the midst of some sort of mid-life angst and sorting out the details of a murder doesn't seem to have the attraction it may once have had. That is the setting for Andrea Camilleri's ninth Inspector Montalbano story, "Paper Moon".

As with all the Montalbano stories I've read to date Paper Moon has a good story line. The plot develops well, major plot points are revealed at decent intervals and the endings don't reveal themselves in some fantastic manner. In this instance Montalbano's investigation focuses on two women, Angelo's very, VERY devoted sister and Angelo's latest girl friend. But, more than the well-devloped story lines, what keeps me coming back is my growing affection for the recurring cast of characters and the Sicilian setting. Montalbano loves his food and the scenes of his delight in finding some new café or restaurant are worth the price of admission in my opinion. Montalbano is also a smart enough cop to know how the game is played in Sicily and his ability to navigate the treacherous waters where politics, the mob, and police bureaucracy meet makes for some terrifically funny passages.

For those new to Inspector Montalbano, the stories are set in the fictional town of Vigata, Sicily. I've enjoyed the series because the story lines keep my interest but also because Montalbano and the recurring cast of characters grow on you in a way that makes you want to come back for more. Although each story is self-contained, there is some character development over time and I think it would be helpful to start off by reading the first two books in the series, The Shape of Water (Inspector Montalbano, Book 1) and The Terra-Cotta Dog (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries) first. After that, I think any subsequent volume in the series that you turn to can be read without missing any major developments.

All in all these mystery stories have been a treat to read. L. Fleisig

Andrea Camilleri is like the Agatha Christie of Italy! This is my first Montalbano mystery, and I am very happily surprised at what a wonderful series it is!

In "The Paper Moon," Inspector Montalbano has been asked to check up on Angelo Pardo at his home. According to his sister Michaela, he has been missing for some days. At the apartment, the Inspector finds Angelo murdered on his terrace, under strange circumstances, and so he sets out to find out more about Angelo and who could have killed him. Along the way he discovers secret lovers, a shady past, and drug dealings mixed in, all making for a very interesting murder mystery!

What makes it such a great mystery is, first and foremost, the wonderful character development Camilleri uses to help us get to know the suspects. He really delves into their lives and secrets and you feel like you know them by the end of the book! The suspects are so captivating that at each turn of the page I tried to figure out who could have murdered Angelo, and why. There are also a good number of suspects, and that makes it fun (and more difficult!) to try and guess who did it.

Camilleri also utilizes and strongly develops the sense of place. The story takes place in Sicily and in this particular storyline, the area is having a problem with drug dealers and many political figures are dying from drugs (I won't go into further detail so as not to give anything away...). He also describes the atmosphere well, visiting such places as the bank, the seaside, the police station, and the trattoria at which Montalbano typically dines. This also gives a good sense of the Italian culture which is central to the plot, as every suspect is, of course, Italian.

Just the way Camilleri takes time to eloquently describe his locations, the Inspectors daily interrogations and work, and most of all the development of the suspects and other characters makes for a wonderful and complex mystery read! Even the coworkers at the station are well developed, and as they play a large role in helping Montalbano with the mystery, it is nice that you get to know them all, as I'm sure they will have recurring roles in the other books in the series.

The best part by far, aside from the continually developing story, which was like a spider web getting larger and fuller with lies, deceptions, and secrets, would have to be the ending and reveal of the killer! I won't say too much, but it is a very sneaky ending which is slowly revealed. The result is a great one! I highly recommend this series, especially this particular book. It is extremely well written and developed. Camilleri is a truly talented mystery writer who deserves as much recognition as Agatha Christie or Dashiell Hammett. I look forward to reading more of the Montalbano series! If you are just beginning, The Paper Moon is a great one to start with! As a big fan of (murder) mystery novels, I can say with enthusiasm this is a series not to be missed.

First Line: The alarm rang, as it had done every morning for the past year, at seven-thirty.

The moody Inspector Salvo Montalbano has been plagued by the sense of his own mortality of late. He's trying to dodge all those morbid questions floating around in his mind-- without much success-- so what he needs is a good murder to take his mind off death. This he gets when the body of a man-- shot in the face at point-blank range-- with his pants down around his ankles is found.

Montalbano soon has more than enough to occupy his mind with the victim's beautiful sister, the victim's beautiful girlfriend, cocaine, blackmail letters, and mysterious computer codes all complicating the investigation. Not to fear, though-- allow Montalbano to cogitate while digesting an excellent meal, and the killer will soon be in jail.

Although the first book in the series was rather shaky for me, I am so glad that I continued because this is now one of my absolute favorite series. Montalbano and his team of officers are all gems, and Stephen Sartarelli does a perfect job of translating colloquial dialogue. (By the way, my husband is another huge fan of this series.) How Sartarelli manages to imply regional Sicilian speech and yet keep the meaning completely clear for English speakers is beyond me. The man is a master!

The mystery isn't all that difficult to solve, but that's not the point. The point is being able to watch grumpy Inspector Montalbano distracted by two pretty girls. You know that, sooner or later, the pheromones are going to lose their effect, and the wily Sicilian policeman is going to figure everything out. The joy is in watching him do it.