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The Track of Sand (Inspector Montalbano #12)
"The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fill the air of Sicily."
-Donna Leon
Inspector Salvatore Montalbano wakes from strange dreams to find a gruesomely bludgeoned horse carcass in front of his seaside home. When his men came to investigate, the carcass has disappeared, leaving only a trail in th...more
-Donna Leon
Inspector Salvatore Montalbano wakes from strange dreams to find a gruesomely bludgeoned horse carcass in front of his seaside home. When his men came to investigate, the carcass has disappeared, leaving only a trail in th...more
ebook, 272 pages
Published
October 26th 2010
by Penguin Books
(first published 2007)
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E’ sempre lui, fondamentalmente, solo che è un pochino più nervoso, un pochino più distratto e forse avrebbe bisogno di un paio di occhiali. Anzi, senza il forse.
Di chi parlo? Di Montalbano, naturalmente.
Un Montalbano che, ultimamente, quando si sveglia, apre gli occhi e poi li richiude subito, sentendo in fondo al cuore il desiderio di restare lì indovi sarebbi stato impossibile che qualichiduno l’attrovasse. C’è un abbandono nuovo in lui o, magari, una ragione in meno per aver voglia di alzars...more
Di chi parlo? Di Montalbano, naturalmente.
Un Montalbano che, ultimamente, quando si sveglia, apre gli occhi e poi li richiude subito, sentendo in fondo al cuore il desiderio di restare lì indovi sarebbi stato impossibile che qualichiduno l’attrovasse. C’è un abbandono nuovo in lui o, magari, una ragione in meno per aver voglia di alzars...more
In this book, Montalbano, who lives in a house on the beach finds a dead horse in front of his home. Worse, the horse appears to have been murdered brutally. After making a cursory inspection, when Montalbano goes to get his officers out so they can make a thorough investigation, the carcass disappears.In the next couple of days 2 people file police reports about missing horses - one is a famous equestrian Rachel Esterman, and the second is one of the richest men in Italy Saverio Lo Duca. Then,...more
Nov 12, 2010
Tony
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-crime-detection
Camilleri, Andrea. THE TRACK OF SAND. (2010). ****. This is another in the author’s Inspector Monatlbano series of crime novels set in Sicily. Although this is an excellent addition, it leans heavily on a prior knowledge of the Inspector and his ways and his love life and his staff of detectives. New readers of this series would not be wise to start off with this one. Otherwise...Inspector Montalbano wakes from a series of strange dreams to walk outside onto his terrace and find a horse who died...more
Dec 30, 2012
Anita
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
police-procedural
Inspector Montalbano awakens from a strange dream only to find a dead horse bludgeoned to death on his beachfront property. The carcass disappears while he and his police cohorts are in his house, having coffee while deciding what to do. Later in the day, a beautiful woman, Rachele, reports the disappearance of her horse from a neighbouring ranch where she had been staying. The owner of the ranch is a well connected rich man whose horse also disappears. While Montalbano slips away to get somethi...more
#12 Inspector Montalbano mystery set in Sicily. What are the odds that you would look out your window one morning and see a dead horse lying on the beach? This is how Salvo Montalbano's day begins, and things continue to stay weird for several days. By the time he follows the horse's tracks and locates where he was killed--a victim of a brutal beating--the corpse has disappeared.
When a beautiful woman comes into the police station to report her horse missing, things get even weirder, and as usua...more
When a beautiful woman comes into the police station to report her horse missing, things get even weirder, and as usua...more
The tale of two horses and three women...Salvo's "catalogo" cannot compare to Don Giovanni's but it still gets him in plenty of trouble, and this time he learns what it's like to be a sex object...or IS that all he is? Salvo's early-sixties crisis continues..."his recent flings...were both ridiculous, miserable, pitiable attempts to stop time. To stop it, at least, for those few seconds in which only the body was alive, while the mind, for its part, was lost in some great, timeless nothingness."...more
You don’t read Andrea Camilleri’s (and Stephen superb translations) Inspector Montalbano series for dazzling plots or outrageous crimes. The plots are good, very solid, although nothing of the tricky twists and turns so common, say, to some of the hard-boiled detective series around.
You read Camilleri because Montalbano, everyone around him, including the criminals, and the place could only be Sicilian; he creates an incredible sense of place and culture that few other authors can evoke. Only Mo...more
You read Camilleri because Montalbano, everyone around him, including the criminals, and the place could only be Sicilian; he creates an incredible sense of place and culture that few other authors can evoke. Only Mo...more
I think Camilleri gets better as he and his character ages. Some of the chapters in this outing are quite astute dissections of local social mores and classes delivered with an almost Dickensian verve.
The plot is complicated big time. But who reads Camilleri for the plot? In fact, there is more experimental writing in this novel that previous ones -- more creative means deployed to delve into the thinking of Inspector Salvo Montalbano.
Theres' also a lot of poignancy in this novel -- a rich ope...more
The plot is complicated big time. But who reads Camilleri for the plot? In fact, there is more experimental writing in this novel that previous ones -- more creative means deployed to delve into the thinking of Inspector Salvo Montalbano.
Theres' also a lot of poignancy in this novel -- a rich ope...more
Als vor seinem Strandhaus in Marinella ein Pferd qualvoll verendet und der Kadaver kurze Zeit darauf plötzlich wie vom Erdboden verschluckt zu sein scheint, beginnt Comissario Montalbano dem geheimnisvollen Pferdemord nachzugehen. Abgesehen von dem eher ungewöhnlichen Mordopfer birgt der neueste Fall keinerlei Überraschungen: Montalbano kämpft mit seiner Midlife-Crisis ebenso wie mit der eifersüchtigen Livia, den Kleinkriminellen von Vigàta und der Mafia, seinen Kollegen und seinen Vorgesetzten...more
Another quick and enjoyable read set in Sicily. Montalbano wakes up to a dead horse on the beach next to his house. Then it vanishes. It's like the dreams he has been having and his dreams soon come to life. Two horses are reported missing and one of these horses is owned by a beautiful woman who quickly connects with the enigmatic Montalbano. Meanwhile Salvo's house is being burglarized not once but twice to his macho police embarassment. Is this related to the horse or to a Mafia killing in wh...more
I had saved this new Montalbano to read while Viking in Sicily, and it didn't disappoint.
If I criticise then the story isn't as strong as the character (singular), and the other role players. However, Conan-Doyle had the same difficulty. Salvo's character gets stronger by he book. He is the archetypal Sicilian guy, and he assembled police around him are generally portrayed as fools. I have never come across a series of books before where food means so much. Mealtimes are described in detail, an...more
If I criticise then the story isn't as strong as the character (singular), and the other role players. However, Conan-Doyle had the same difficulty. Salvo's character gets stronger by he book. He is the archetypal Sicilian guy, and he assembled police around him are generally portrayed as fools. I have never come across a series of books before where food means so much. Mealtimes are described in detail, an...more
Detective Montalbano wakes from a dream to see a horse that has been bludgeon to death on the beach outside his home. Who could do such a horrible thing? He goes to the beach for a better look, calls his detectives to the scene and they briefly go inside his apartment to discuss what to do. When they return to the beach the dead horse is gone. Thus begins another mystery that leads to more mysteries and the hearty consumption of Sicilian gastronomical delights, fights with his girlfriend Livia,...more
Sicily's Inspector Montalbano awakens to find a dead horse on the sand outside his window. The poor beast has been beaten unmercifully. Before his men can arrive to examine the horse, however, the body is stolen. Soon the beautiful owner of the horse, Rachele, is making a play for the inspector, which leaves him both interested and uncomfortable. He learns that two horses were stolen from a wealthy man's nearby stable, and that some of the local gangsters are involved. He eats and drinks too muc...more
I know I repeat myself over and over again when I talk about Camilleri's Montalbano novels, but this book is yet another wonderful story by one of Italy's most famous (and rightfully so, not Dan Brown-like famous) contemporary writers. This time, Camilleri backs down a little bit with his criticism of Italy and what it's turned into within the past decades and focuses more on literature. Some hints here and there can be found in most of Camilleri's work, but here it becomes one of the main eleme...more
Jun 17, 2012
Skip
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-detective,
foreign-authors
Inspector Montalbano awakens to find a dead horse on the beach in back of his home, which is removed while he awaits assistance. A champrion racehorse belonging to a beautiful woman and another horse were reported stolen in another district, but Salvo is so disturbed by the violence done to the animal that he investigates. After his home is invaded twice and almost burned down, he concludes it is related to an upcoming mafia trial in which he is a key witness. His dogged determination and love o...more
I did like this story but it took me a good bit of it to get into it. Salvo is still worried about aging and perhaps this is why he's been so promiscuous (or more like a naive young person just discovering the opposite sex?) in these last two books. This one involves illegal horse racing and I would've liked to have seen much more of that story line developed but as it turns out, the mystery of the disappearing dead horse and the discovery of a dead body are solved and connected. I still really...more
The track of sand that the title refers to is that of a horse that was bludgeoned nearly to death, managed to escape his captors, and collapsed and died on the beach in front of Inspector Montalbano's home. It also refers to the tracks left behind in the sand by the people who put the carcass in a cart and pulled it to an access road. Montalbano is appalled by the horse's treatment and is determined to get to the bottom of the situation despite the fact that the horse is not a human, and Montalb...more
I like this series of books a lot. I didn't give this one a higher rating for two reasons:
(1) I was interrupted in my reading by a broadcast on the BBC of this same story. It's not the fault of the book, but it took away from the enjoyment a little bit that I had just seen the screen adaptation, which I find more enjoyable when it occurs after I've read a book.
(2) Not to give anything away but, it is not possible to put a horseshoe in your pants pocket and forget it's there.
As in all these books...more
(1) I was interrupted in my reading by a broadcast on the BBC of this same story. It's not the fault of the book, but it took away from the enjoyment a little bit that I had just seen the screen adaptation, which I find more enjoyable when it occurs after I've read a book.
(2) Not to give anything away but, it is not possible to put a horseshoe in your pants pocket and forget it's there.
As in all these books...more
Inspector Salvatore Montalbano wakes from strange dreams to find a gruesomely bludgeoned horse carcass in front of his seaside home. When his men came to investigate, the carcass has disappeared, leaving only a trail in the sand. Then his home is ransacked and the inspector is certain that the crimes are linked. As he negotiates both the glittering underworld of horseracing and the Mafia's connection to it, Montalbano is aided by his illiterate housekeeper, Adelina, and a Proustian memory of lin...more
Inspector Montalbano is now fifty-six - and not liking it. His appetite is off, he's not seeing as well and fears he may need glasses, he's even getting forgetful! At least he's still got it as a lover, but sex leaves him feeling used.
One morning Montalbano finds the carcass of a horse in front of his house. It's been horribly beaten to death. The rage the inspector feels does not bode well for the perpetrators. His investigation of the case has to be unofficial, for reasons I'll let you discov...more
One morning Montalbano finds the carcass of a horse in front of his house. It's been horribly beaten to death. The rage the inspector feels does not bode well for the perpetrators. His investigation of the case has to be unofficial, for reasons I'll let you discov...more
This is the 12th book in the Inspector Montalbano series. The books get their charm from the Sicilian atmosphere just as much as from Salvo Montalbano’s relationships with his colleagues and various women. This does not mean he is a womanizer, in fact, in this book we learn that he actually only ever had four “relationships”, two of which can be considered transient, plus Ingrid (the nature of that one puts it in its separate league). However, the current ones (Livia, Ingrid, Rachele) are comple...more
Salvo Montalbano awakes one morning still bothered by a dream. He is in a field; there is a gate but no fence. He is dressed to ride a horse, in fact, he actually is riding the horse, something he has never done.
He “got out of bed, went to the window and threw open the shutters….And the first thing he saw was a horse, lying on its side in the sand, motionless….The horse’s hooves had left a series of tracks at the very edge of the beach, on the hard sand nearest the water, but he couldn’t see whe...more
Now I have read all dozen of the Inspector Montalbano books that have been translated into English so far. Even though they are rather formulaic, I always enjoy them as easy reading. The best aspect of Camilleri's writing to me is not so much the plot as the atmosphere and other intangibles. For example, Camilleri makes interesting allusions to other works of literature, particularly murder-mysteries by such authors as the Swiss Friedrich Dürrenmatt and the Swedish writer-couple Sjöwall-Wahlöö....more
Salvo is facing the aging process---it comes to us all. While it would be settling to see him able to commit to Livia, such a future is not realistic for them. So he remains married to his job; at least there is a reciprocal commitment to Mimi, the ever loyal Fazio and the ever innocent yet insightful Catarella. Missed the author's usual take on the Italian current political scene.
I love Montalbano and will read the books whether I've seen them or not...I think this one was spoiled for me though by seeing it before reading it. I usually read first...I will from now on :-(
I still think the dialogue and the characters are fabulously hysterical! Especially Catarella...lol...how did he get to where he is in life...lol
I don't know, but I am so glad he is a character in this series.
I still think the dialogue and the characters are fabulously hysterical! Especially Catarella...lol...how did he get to where he is in life...lol
I don't know, but I am so glad he is a character in this series.
Inspector Savio Montalbano is once again engaged in sovling a crime mystery which begins when he wakes up one morning to find a dead horse laying on the sand while gazing out his window. So begins another adventure for our hero as he duels with the government bureaucracy and directs his erstwhile, simple assistants in sifting through the clues. The mystery itself could easily have been solved by the American, Sgt. Columbo after the first few chapters. But like the Columbo mysteries, Camilleri ma...more
Another of Camilleri's slow paced mysteries involving Sicilian Inspector Montalbano. Much eating of seafood, drinking of wine, and some thinking of life and the current mystery. The photo of Camilleri is always the same one. He looks sternly at the photographer, defiantly holding his cigarette in the foreground. It never fails to make me want to travel to Sicily.
This is the most recently written book by Camilleri that I have read, and I think his age is showing in it. It lacks the freshness and complexity of his earlier books, but I still enjoyed it. Just not as much, and I would certainly suggest a reader just coming to him start with his earlier books as this one may not encourage you to read more of his work, and he is well worth reading if you like quirky humanist mysteries.
An excellent addition to the Montalbano series, "The Track of Sand" features an opening to a mystery that I have rarely encountered: the death of an animal (guess which, from the cover) leads to an accidental shooting and, behind it all, the guilty hands of the Mafia and its lesser associates.
I love Montalbano stories, and one of the big reasons for that love is the language. In the original all the dialogs are in Sicilian, and that's probably even 50 % of the charm for me.
While Sartarelli does a good job in translating, there is no way of bringing the joys of Montalbano series' language in English. And while I listened to this one as an audiobook, the spoken English lost the language charm even further. I didn't get much of the feel of Vigata or the persons the same way I've got the...more
While Sartarelli does a good job in translating, there is no way of bringing the joys of Montalbano series' language in English. And while I listened to this one as an audiobook, the spoken English lost the language charm even further. I didn't get much of the feel of Vigata or the persons the same way I've got the...more
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Andrea Camilleri (born september 6, 1925 in Porto Empedocle) is an Italian writer. He is considered one of the greatest Italian writers of both 20th and 21st centuries.
Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.
Fro...more
More about Andrea Camilleri...
Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party.
Fro...more
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“Wearing glasses for reading meant surrendering to old age without the least bit of a fight.”
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Aug 06, 2012 11:17pm