The Paper Moon (Inspector Montalbano Series #9) Book

A missing middle-age man is reported by his sister, Michela Pardo. She convinces Inspector Salvo Montalbano to search for him. This is how the police procedural, The Paper Moon, begins. Soon, Camilleri weaves a wonderful and intriguing story that looks into Angelo Pardo's past.

Montalbano's police station is in the fictitious city of Vigata near Palermo. To put yourself there, imagine a romantic old city. Stucco buildings painted vivid colors, scrolled black iron railings penning second-floor balconies, people shopping in the outdoor markets, and alley-streets climbing the hills.

There in the station Mantalbano's associates share their lives with us. There's an officer whose new baby tests him. A commissioner who's perpetually too tied up to meet with Montalbano. Catarella, a junior officer whose substandard way of speaking, said with upmost sincerity, stuns Montalbano. TPM was written in Italian. Still, everything flows well in the English translation, including Cat's hilarious mispronunciations.

This is Sicily. I'm sorry, you know there must be some Mafia goings-on. It's not all violent and tragic, though. There are many light and sometimes fantastic moments. Montalbano operates alone and by his wits. He tirelessly digs up information from seemingly barren evidence. Whatever the motivations of his prey, his erudite mind will discover.

Careful, there are many moments when a catcall wouldn't be out of the question. However, Michela and Elena, another beautiful lady Montalbano interviews, are just as ready to pounce. He drinks demitasse coffee in their company and works hard to avoid characterizing them in terms of his girlfriend who's away.

This book is a testament to Camilleri's concise writing. I'm surprised by the uncanny similarity of Camilleri's simple and logical Montalbano to Georges Simenon's Maigret. They both work for flying police squads which, I recently learned, are forces that get to the scene of the crime quickly. Nothing to do with aeronautics!

Come, rest on the veranda overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sit with Salvo and share a glass of J&B as he awaits his Livia. Ciao!