Treasure Hunt (The Inspector Montalbano Mysteries Book 16)

The latest tale in the Inspector Montalbano series is a certainly different from his other works in the senese of tone. For those who expect to continue in the same manner as his other works will find the book slightly different but not radically different. The rather bizzare circumstances which set the action off are treated in a unique manner. Yes, Montabalno is the same ornery gourmand with the same frustrations but his world view seems to have changed, a case of memento mori. He muses about the building developments and the encroachment of the urban world on his idllyic Sicily. Yet when he does discover a small slice of untouched pastoral peace, it hides an awful secret.The case opens with an almost comic episode concerning two elderly and deranged religious fanatics which involves attempted mass killings and rubber dolls. What is disconcerting is Motalbano's reaction during the incident. He is terrified by a room full of crucifixes, the naked male shooter and just when we are about to laugh, we realize that these two mad people could have killed the inspector, several police offficers, and innocent bystanders. His former shell of cynicism does not protect him.The matter of the rubber dolls becomes almost comical and yet they mask a chilling reality which is only explained in the final part of the book. A change in tone from past books because the crime he uncovers is so hideous that even the pathologist, Pasquano, seems to have lost his indifference to what he sees.Unfortunately the speech of Catarella is so garbled in translation that it really seems more a conceit and a annoyance to the reader than it has in the past. Augello's priapic tendencies have not changed and truly verge on pure sexism. I find the long suffering Livia, Montalbanos' girl friend, becoming totally incomprehensible. After years of Montalbano's cavalier attitude toward her, she does not change. And of course there is his friend Ingrid who has become a caricature of a Swedish sexpot.What I found interesting is that Montalbano finally seems to be developing while the others around him have become static. This book could be termed a black satiric comedy, or mystery. It definitely is a departure from Camilleri's previous works in tone and begs the question what comes next in Montalbano's view of the world.

Treasure Hunt opens with a high-drama shoot-out and ends with even more dramatic and horrific scenes. In between these mad bookends, both the reader and Inspector Montalbano are kept waiting in suspense for something terrible to happen. Montalbano is so bored by the lack of burglaries, stabbings and abductions in Vigata, that he passes the time solving puzzles. An unknown writer keeps sending him cryptic puzzles written in bad poetry, challenging him to a treasure hunt. These puzzles have Montalbano running all around town.We expect the silly puzzles to take a sinister turn, and they do. What the reader does not foresee are all the interconnections running through even the most trivial events that unfold in the story. The plot is incredibly devious, much like the mind of the maniac behind the treasure hunt.The crime at the heart of the story has the flavor of Scandinavian Noir. But this is a Montalbano mystery, and so the story is also strongly spiced with Italian comedy.An inflatable doll found at a crime scene leads to numerous gags that frankly had me convulsed. And Montalbano's telephone fights with his girlfriend Livia are always good for a laugh. The inspector's dialogs with his alter ego on the subject of his advancing age (he's 57) are also a riot. Then there's Montalbano's gargantuan appetite. The inspector is funny when he overeats and funny when he's off his feed. In this book, for the first time in his life, Montalbano feels rather ashamed of stuffing himself.There are no great Sicilian recipes in this book, but the mere names of the scrumptious Sicilian dishes Montalbano consumes, four servings at a time, give gustatory pleasure.I was so hungry for the latest Montalbano that I pre-ordered it. Treasure Hunt left me deeply satisfied.

The Inspector Montalbano series are great fun and give you a little glimpse into Italian life and it’s cuisine. This book has the inspector matching his Witt’s with a crazed killer but he always outsmarts the villain. Entertaining.

Treasure Hunt is a twisted tale of intrigue that starts off almost as comedy, but then veers off through the dark woods of madness, and dark spirits. Inspector Montalbano is called out to help corral a brother and sister of advanced years, whose piety and religious fervor have graduated into madness and conviction of the evil nature of their fellow Sicilians. This leads them to taking potshots at their neighbors which requires police intervention.In the aftermath Montalbano becomes a media star for his daring. The other "star" is an inflatable doll recovered from the man's room. The Inspector finds it extremely sad, and it comes to complicate his life in ways both comedic and, ultimately tragic. A seemingly separate series of coded messages challenges Montalbano to take part in a treasure hunt.Soon a bright young man, introduced by the Inspector's Swedish friend Ingrid, offers to help unravel the cryptc clues. The long-suffering Livia (Montalbano's long term and long distance fiance) soon suspects the worst. Then a young woman vanishes, and events take more sinister turn.Montalbano, and his colleagues on the Vigata Police force race to save the missing woman, who it now appears, may be the treasure, the cryptic messages have alluded to. The "Treasure Hunt" has become a race against time, and Montalbano becomes more at risk than we have ever seen him before.Make no mistake this is a darker view of Vigata, than we are accustomed to. Less travelogue of a fictional setting than a dark tour of the twisted recesses of the human psyche.

Since first discovering this author many years ago, there have been numerous holidays where a day or two has been spent in Montalbano's company. Nearly always it has been like rekindling an easy friendship with a familiar old pal. You can forgive their foibles, smile at the old jokes and tales you've heard before. Wave them off as you close the book and look forward to seeing them again in another year.This most recent holiday has been at home and allowed the reading of three Camilleri novels in quick succession. The 'friend' has become tiresome, annoying and overstayed his welcome. It is probably a little unfair to solely pick on this particular novel for such negative comments. The truth is that the last four or five in the series have been displaying the same shortcomings.It is now time to consider a very long break before seeing this old 'friend' again.

Classic Camilleri; Montalbano at his marvellous best.More problems for our Italian police officer who has problems with getting old and having to prove himself. Having been captured on TV Montalbano is concerned that he has been given the status like some hollywood action hero. He however is aware of his own fear and limitations.Camilleri paints a wonderful picure of the aging process in his main character and he enriches this mystery in the process. Here someone seemingly challenges Montalbano to a Treasure Hunt, a contest of wits. Meanwhile Ingrid introduces him to a young friend who almost worships the detective and wants to learn how he fathoms out the clues and solves crimes.At a time when his ego might be boosted by this attention we find the opposite; Montabano's humble nature is shown rather than pride. I have always felt this was the strength of his creation as he is so atune to human nature and accepting of most people. This is best demonstrated by his deep affection for the bumbling Catarella who worships the inspector in return.This case doesn't shine glory on him in the end, but it reveals all the qualities that make these books and the linked TV series so well loved. As with other novels the TV episode seen by some, matches the book in almost every aspect and in this respect demonstrates the quality of Camillera's creative writing.I can not speak too highly enough of this series, by one of the best crime fiction writers around.

I have enjoyed every one of the books in this series, but I think that this is, perhaps, the weakest that I have read. I guessed the plot fairly early on, but the clues were fairly transparent and these books are not simply whodunnit's, so the writing and the storyline is not spoiled because you know who the killer is. However, in this book , I found the eventual murder to be both gratuitous and, as a result of weaknesses in the plot, probably unnecessary. Nevertheless, the story is very readable and I had no difficulty in reading to the end and enjoying the experience for the most part. In the treasure Hunt we find Montalbano aging and becoming more introspective, concerned with his ability to do his job both physically and psychoogically. With little to do and still less to motivate him due to a general lack of serious crime, Montalbano is bored and ready to engage in a mind-game, (the treasure hunt of the title), engendered by a mysterious protagonist who is goading him into following clues that seem to lead nowhere. Bored eventually, even with this, he hands the task over to a student of human behaviour who is keen to study his methods: meanwhile a series of incidents and the disappearnace of a young woman, sets the detective on some serious work and the treasure hunt is put out of his mind as he focuses on the work of a madman.

Montalbano stories are interesting, amusing and full of people whose eccentricities and foibles are recognizable. The main characters have many moods but are consistent in their basic behaviours making them believable as genuine people.This story has twists and turns, making Montalbano think and reflect in his usual way, despite his life's distractions and he eventually solves the crime.What I enjoy about these books is that a conventional happy ending is unlikely. Although the answer to the crime may be actually quite simple, it takes persistent delving to piece all the bits of evidence together, and then work out what they mean. Montalbano deals with all this by being true to himself with all his faults, while showing his humanity all along the way.

I have read all of the Inspector Montalbano books. I have enjoyed most of them. Actually, I do find with these books, that one never knows quite how gruesome the crime, usually a murder, will be. There have been one or two earlier ones which I did not find to be particularly palatable. However, the inspector himself is such an interesting man, & his relationships with the various other people in the books, are written of in a way that one feels as if they are all somehow familiar. I just wish this story did not have to be so dreadfully gruesome. I do not like to read of men doing such things to a woman. I do not like to read about psychopaths. So, I will not be reading anymore of this book.