“Once, when he was a kid, his father, just to tease him, had told him the moon was made of paper. And since he never doubted what his father told him, he believed it. Now, as a mature, experienced man with brains and intuition, he had once again, a little kid, believed what two women, one dead and the other alive, had said when they told him the moon was made out of paper.”

Nat King Cole trio, "Paper Moon":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc5RM...

#9 in the series. By now you sense a pattern: Opening with light-hearted humor, grumpy Inspector Salvo Montelbano's interaction with the goofy Caterella (Cat) with his mispronunciations and malapropisms, and just kinda goofy talk--"He wants to see ya pousinally in person, chief," and then there's a murder, with a combination of horror and humor. In this one a guy is shot in the face, with his pants down, which fits that bill.

Then other hallmarks: References to books, especially that of Camilleri's favorite playwright, Pirandello; always great meals, always fine women, and sights of Sicily.

The resolution of the crime in this one is not as interesting as the process of talking to various women who try to seduce Salvo. One fits the bill as a kind of femme fatale, throughout, but because of his love for Livia, Salvo resists (to my disappointment). There's a lot of talk of sex in this one, which is fun and funny, as usual. Oh, I guess most of these are 3-4 stars, this one about 3.75 leaning to 4. Fun!


mystery-detective-thriller20 s Lili Kyurkchiyska270 95

Once, when he was a kid, his father, just to tease him, had told him the moon was made of paper. And since he never doubted what his father told him, he believed it. Now, as a mature, experienced man with brains and intuition, he had once again, a little kid, believed what two women, one dead and the other alive, had said when they told him the moon was made out of paper.
crime-and-mystery14 s David DowdyAuthor 5 books55

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!inspector mystery10 s Metodi Markov1,487 363

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