- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Viking USA (Nov 12 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670031380
- ISBN-13: 978-0670031382
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 431 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #846,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
A deep evocation of the Sicilian temperament, with all its complex darkness and ambiguity, is embodied in Inspector Salvo Montalbano of the fictive town of Vigata, in Sicily. Camilleri writes in Sicilian dialect, and his translator has expertly captured the rhythms and nuances of that tongue in English. Good thing: the Mafia is indeed a presence here, and Montalbano unravels a very odd supermarket heist with the goods left abandoned in plain view, but that isn't the heart of the story. The groceries are only a front for guns, and in the ancient cave where they are discovered, the inspector finds the bodies of two very young lovers, dead since World War II, and carefully arranged with coins, a water jug, and the faithful dog of the title. Montalbano applies his considerable intellectual and literary gifts to this second mystery, mightily irritating his housekeeper, his girlfriend, and his colleagues while interviewing a cast of characters odd even by Sicilian standards. There are dreams and portents, semiotics and deceptions, and the violent ghosts of the war and the Mob, some not nearly dead yet. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Salvo Montalbano has garnered millions of fans worldwide with his sardonic, engaging take on Sicilian life and his genius for deciphering the most enigmatic of crimes.
The Terra-cotta Dog opens with the inspector's mysterious tête-à-tête with a mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There, in a secret grotto, he finds a harrowing scene: two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terra-cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island's past and into a family's dark heart amid the horrors of World War II bombardment.
From sly comedy at the expense of his fellow policemen to personal soul searching that helps him enter the minds of those he must investigate, Montalbano is a detective whose earthiness and imagination coalesce into a unique, unfailing appeal. AUTHORBIO: Andrea Camilleri is the author of many books, including his Montalbano series, which has been adapted for Italian television and translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Dutch, and Swedish.
Stephen Sartarelli lives in upstate New York.
The Terra-cotta Dog opens with the inspector's mysterious tête-à-tête with a mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, and dying words that lead him to an illegal arms cache in a mountain cave. There, in a secret grotto, he finds a harrowing scene: two young lovers, dead fifty years and still embracing, watched over by a life-size terra-cotta dog. Montalbano's passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island's past and into a family's dark heart amid the horrors of World War II bombardment.
From sly comedy at the expense of his fellow policemen to personal soul searching that helps him enter the minds of those he must investigate, Montalbano is a detective whose earthiness and imagination coalesce into a unique, unfailing appeal. AUTHORBIO: Andrea Camilleri is the author of many books, including his Montalbano series, which has been adapted for Italian television and translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Japanese, Dutch, and Swedish.
Stephen Sartarelli lives in upstate New York.
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First Sentence
I've a good mind to sell this house. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I've a good mind to sell this house. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Terra Cotta Dog,
By Erich Penhoff (CANADA VANCOUVER) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Terra-Cotta Dog (Mass Market Paperback)
The book written by Camilleri is a crime mystery. It is good entertainment, but does lack in originality. Inspector Montalbano (Camilleri) uses the old true and tried method of many others. He created a serial character, much likeSimenon or Maigret. The writing is excellent prose, the content is only average in judging interesting, it does open a cold case but the general idea has been pillaged for a long time. It is an entertaining read, never the less not a intellectual demanding one.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic read,
By gotta run now (Seattle) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Terra-Cotta Dog (Mass Market Paperback)
The Terra Cotta Dog is the 2nd in a series of recently translated Inspector Montalbano mysteries. Hugely popular in Europe, it's hard to see how this series will not catch on in the US (and Australia!) with the Inspector's dry humour, wit, self depracation, tenacity, and understanding of human nature.In the midst of uncovering a mafia weapons brokering scheme, Montalbano discovers a well hidden cave with 2 long dead lovers embracing, tenderly watched over by a terra cotta dog. While his job dictates he must resolve the guns problem, it is the lovers and the dog that really grab his attention. Not all authors can intertwine and simultaneously solve 2 mysteries, one of which began over 50 years before, during fascist World War II Italy. But Camilleri does so brilliantly, keeping you turning those pages until the end. Of course, he doesn't forget to eat, and I'm starting to enjoy the constant aspects of his personality such as his ravenous appetite for gourmet foods. A word should be said here regarding the translation. I don't know what a poor translation would be like, but I suspect that Sartarelli is owed some credit to the overall enjoyment of this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A really excellent book.,
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Terra-Cotta Dog (Mass Market Paperback)
A Mafia leader wants out, but he has a job you don't just quit. Working with Sicilian Police Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Gaetano The Greek arranges a complex capture fantasy. The capture works, giving Montalbano more publicity than he wants and the threat of a feared promotion, but Gaetano also tells him of a cave where the Mafia hide a huge weapons cache. Montalbano investigates and finds both the weapons and an older and more complicated mystery. Two mummified bodies lie in a hidden cavern, accompanied by a water pitcher, a terra-cotta dog, and a rug. The meaning of the intwined lovers fascinates Montalbano and he virtually drops the Mafia investigation to discover what could have happened to the dead couple. Montalbano is a fascinating and well developed character. He lives by his own moral code, pursues an ambiguous relationship with Livia, and seems to appreciate good food more than he does either women or the law. His investigation combines literary allusion, hard-core detecting, a history lesson, and intriguing mentions of the food Montalbano finds himself enjoying. In THE TERRA-COTTA DOG, author Andrea Camilleri has a wonderful and moving story. Much of the story kept me laughing, but Camilleri maintains a darker subtext. The Mafia and Italian corruption and violence, both in the Fascist days and in the present, are an ever-present reality and form much of the story's background. I found the story to be completely compelling and recommend it without reservation.
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