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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780142004739
ISBN number: 0142004731
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: May 31, 2005
Publishing house: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: May 31, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 128255
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Never has Inspector Montalbano's signature mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food been more compelling than in The Snack Thief.
When an elderly man is stabbed to death in an elevator and a crewman on an Italian fishing trawler is machine-gunned by a Tunisian patrol boat off Sicily's coast, only Montalbano, with his keen insight into human nature, suspects the link between the two incidents. His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished housecleaner and sometime prostitute, whose young son is caught stealing other schoolchildren's midmorning snacks. But when Karima disappears, the young snack thief's life-as well as his own-is endangered when Montalbano exposes a viper's nest of government and international intrigue.
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Rated by buyers 
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Inspector Montalbano is my kind of guy. He loves food, to the point of intellectualizing food. He does not suffer the fool lightly, in fact he delights in insulting the fools that surround him. He has a rather devout and unique sense of justice and morality. He is one of the great characters in mysteries. This is the third book on Andrea Camilleri's sardonic and witty series set in Sicily and it is the best of the three that I have read. I like to read them in series so that I can see the character grow. This book seems like the previous two except that the orneriness of Inspector Montalbano is coming out in greater volumes. His complaints are louder and more vehemant, his patiences in shorter supply, and his judgment a little more flawed.
The story is about two seemingly unrelated murders which eventually, of course, become inextricably intertwined. One is the murder of an elderly gentlemen, stabbed to death in his building elevator. The other is a Tunisian sailour shot to death by the Tunisians themselves. The mechanics of solving a crime in modern day Sicily is described in delicious details, written in the voice of a true skeptic.
The plot of the story meanders along languorously in typical Camilleri style until a number of things all come together. The result of which is a philosophical and emotional series of moments for Inspector Montalbano, something wholly unexpected of Camilleri and his character because Salvo Montalbano has played the spectator all along in this series, we do not expect him to show his true self, but circumstances pushes him forward to confront his life, his future, his love, and why he is. I don't want to make this sound like an angst ridden novella, it isn't. It is a barely cracked window into the soul of the character, a window that is surreptitiously opened for the briefest moment to let the air and sun in, just to give us a peek at the inner workings of the character.
This is ususally a dangerous yet intriguing decision for an author for he is now forever saddled with a psychosis he himself created while he is also given himself a means to explore many different things.
I am hoping that Camilleri takes advantage of this trap that he set for himself and make the best of it, which means that I just got started on the subsequent book in the series, just to find out what will happen next.
The Snack Thief is a nice bridge from the beginning: The Shape of Water and The Terra Cotta Dog, into a greater unknown, we hope.
Rated by buyers 
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For a really good time, obtain the audio version of The Snack Thief, put it in your player, and relax, because you're in for a treat. Inspector Montalbano reminds me of Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti in his determination to see that justice is done while retaining his essential humanity, not an easy task for a cop. In love with the lovely Livia, but not entirely sure he wants to settle down as a married man, Montalbano's insecurities are multiplied when an orphaned little boy lands in his lap. What do the boy's prostitute mother, a murdered Tunisian fisherman, and a Sicilian businessman found stabbed in an elevator have to do with one another? Listen to this skillfully narrated version (by Grover Gardner) and enjoy the scrumptious food, the sunshine of Sicily, and the workings of a great detective's mind, and find out. A great MP3 book for the beach or that long flight.
Rated by buyers -
In the early hours of the morning Inspector Salvo Montalbano of Vigata receives an urgent phone call, just off the Sicilian coast a fishing trawler was fired upon by a Tunisian patrol boat in the area, one of the workers of the fishing trawler was shot and killed in the confusion. Around 8am that same morning an elderly man is found stabbed to death in his apartment building elevator, Montalbano takes charge of the elevator job he finds this more intriguing besides his overly ambitious second in command Mimi Augello has taken the helm to investigate the fishing trawler unfortunately for Mimi that seems to have just about resolved itself.
Meanwhile the elevator job seems to be taking a completely different shape, Montalbano sets about interviewing all the neighbours who seem more interested in other things but after interviewing the wife of the deceased Montalbano gets wind that her husband had a part time mistress. Montalbano now sets about looking for this beautiful Karima who has just simply disappeared instead his stumbles across Karima's very young son Francois who is now alone, afraid and to survive had been stealing snacks from other children to stop his hunger.
Montalbano for the very first time and to his dismay has just become a stand in father, a child without a mother is a desperate situation the hunt is now really on. Montalbano is determined to find Francois mother but new leads are about to break will they take him in the wrong direction or will two cases begin to entwine, government corruption is lurking in International Waters.
Andrea Camilleri really does makes each one worthy of the subsequent with wonderful comic and ironic moments especially the sly comments of Italian life and culture, I found those qualities really amusing, these books are catchy, vibrate with brilliant and kept real witty dialogue. Montalbano mysteries was for me addictive reading on a recent vacation and I'm slowly finding time now to review the lot, this is the third book in the series (Il ladro di merendine) The Snack Thief.
Camilleri has confronted the sadness inherent in some human relationships and it has been dramatised in this novel. A single mother, who has turned to prostitution to survive, then disappears under certain circumstances leaving her young son to his own devices. Montalbano in this book shows his melancholy side but with it comes his honesty and decency, his sense of irony still never leaves him and again never happier when people cut the cr*p and get to the point. Camilleri wonderful narrative technique shines through.
Once again characterisation is strong and wonderful to read, Mimi Augello second in command, remains ambitious and has a real comical side as a dedicated womaniser. Montalbano with his own quality of attractiveness that alerts females of all ages but he remains faithfully to his long time love Livia, who in turn is quite happy to pacify him in darker moods and obsessions.
All Montalbano mysteries start in comedy but end in horror and melodrama but it done with lots of human interest in every plot, in this mystery series you can pick up and start anywhere but I feel the whole series deserves to be read from the beginning it's the best way to get the essence of all that glorious sea food and engross yourself in those fantastic characters.
A special mention to poet Stephen Sartarelli, for the clear translation of each book and for the informative notes given at the back on wording. Thank you.
Another Wonderful Read.
A.Bowhill
Rated by buyers -
"The Snack Thief" by Andrea Camilleri, "An Inspector Montalbano Mystery". Translated by Stephen Sartarelli. Viking Penguin, 2003.
Again set in Sicily, this novel, by Andrea Camilleri, has his Inspector Montalbano deal with murder on the high seas and murder in an elevator in a local apartment building. Although there was no apparent connection, Montalbano works the murder of the Sicilian businessman and the murder of the Tunisian "fisherman" until he makes the link. In the intervening pages, he deals with some CIA-type Italians who deal in "useful massacres" (p. 253) and the good Inspector loses his temper. After knocking down Lohengrin Pera (yes, that is the name the author chose), Montalbano crushes this colonel's little eye glasses with his heel, "...as he'd seen in a movie about the Nazis". (p. 259). The Inspector is more human than most of us. As usual with Camilleri's mysteries, you do not get to understand the title until about half way through the book. Also, as customary with things Italian, food and the description of food preparation, play an important part in the story. The child, Francois, orphaned by the murders, will play an important role in a future book, "The Voice Of The Violin".
Again, Stephen Sartarelli has done an excellent job in translating, and, in the back of the book, there is an interesting glossary of sorts where murky Italian phrases are explained.
Rated by buyers -
Just a easy mystery read. If you like Marcia Muller you will like this author. Enjoyed Terra Cotta Dog equally.
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