The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri

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 linguate fritte. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be charmed by Montalbano’s blend of unorthodox methods, melancholy self-reflection, and love of good food.

Although the 12^th in a well-established – Montalbano – series, The Track of Sand is my first introduction to the world of the colourful inspector and on conclusion wondered why on earth I hadn’t discovered the cantankerous Italian devil sooner!

Montalbano has attitude – he’s rude, interrupts people, orders his colleagues around and is incredibly opinionated – yet I loved every bit of his character! Despite these eccentricities there’s something rather endearing about the policeman – his heart’s in the right place – and he does work incredibly hard to try and solve the many problems he faces on a daily basis including what to eat and how to solve his complicated love life!

The one thing that surprised me however was Camilleri’s humour and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. Despite Montalbano’s leading role, Catarella stole the show for me for his simple comedic genius; his dialect reminding me of the one-time big hit from Joe Dolce called “Shaddup You Face” – which incidentally reached number 1 in the UK in 1981 keeping Ultravox’s Vienna off the top spot! In one one scene Catarella calls Montalbano :-

At four o’clock the telephone rang

‘Chief, that’d be a lady named Esther.’

‘She didn’t give you her full name?’

‘Yessir, she did, an’ iss what I juss’ tol’ you.’

‘So she’s Miss or Mrs Esther?’

‘Zackly, chief. An’ her lass name is Man.’

Esther Man. He’d never heard of her.

‘Did she tell you what it was about?’

‘Nossir.’

‘All right then, send her in’

…..My name is Esterman, Rachele Esterman.

This certainly isn’t an isolated incident and one way or another Montalbano’s colleagues all provide some light relief but on the whole, despite working well under the inspector’s command, their working relationship is fractious to say the least! That said, they do get the job done – somehow!

Published by Mantle The Track of Sand is available in Hardcover and Kindle

Given that The Track of Sand is an Italian crime novel, food, as you can imagine, is never far away and Camilleri utilises every opportunity to bring a cornucopia of heavenly dishes to tempt the literary palette.  Montalbano, as a ten year old, recalls the one and only time he went out fishing with his uncle at midnight:-

Boating the oars, the man opened a bag and pulled out a frying pan and a little gas burner, along with a bottle of olive oil, a small bag of flour, and a smaller one of salt. He watched the preparations, mystified. How could anyone eat at that hour of night? Ciccino, meanwhile, had put the pan on the burner, poured in a bit of oil, floured the two soles and began to fry them.

In the forty six years that had passed since that night, he had never experienced the same taste again.

Translated by Stephen Sartarelli the narrative oozes quality and flows unhindered to a satisfying conclusion. There’s always a fear that the translation fails to capture the essence of the original language but fear not, Sartarelli has done a magnificent job with this manuscript.

The storyline itself is entertaining and intelligent and although police procedural isn’t high on the agenda you do get a small flavour how forensics and pathology work, albeit at a sedentary pace. The frustrations aren’t lost on Montalbano who harangues anyone unfortunate to be in his way!

A thoroughly enjoyable and charming book, The Track of Sand caters for all tastes – crime, humour, food and horse racing – what more could you want from Andrea Camilleri. The only question I have left un-answered is which Camilleri novel do I read next?! Highly recommended and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Magical.

Published by Mantle The Track of Sand is available in Hardcover and Kindle & Book Depository (Free P&P)