Voice of the Violin

An Inspector Montalbano Mystery by Andrea Camilleri 

When Montalbano discovers the dead body of a naked woman by accident in an uninhabited villa on the edge of town, he is determined to find out why she was murdered and bring her killer to justice.

He meets up with her friend, Anna, who puts him on the trail of the victim's much older husband, who is a respected doctor, her lover, who is an antiques dealer, and the friends she has made while establishing a holiday home for herself in Sicily.

The Inspector is attracted to Anna, but he has his chaotic personal life to deal with at the same time. When he is taken off the case by the Commissioner based at police headquarters, who dislikes him, he has to investigate the case unofficially to make sure the right person is accused of the murder.

There are plenty of meals featuring Sicilian specialities for Montalbano to enjoy before the ‘voice of the violin’ helps him arrive at the truth.

It is another funny, clever mystery by Camilleri set against the colourful backdrop of Sicily .

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Andrea Camilleri profile and full list of Montalbano titles

(Sicily picture by Peter H from Pixabay)

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The Marshal and the Murderer

A Marshal Guarnaccia Investigation by Magdalen Nabb 

The Marshall is asked to investigate the disappearance of a Swiss girl staying in Florence, who has been learning pottery-making in a nearby village.

And when her body is found outside a ceramics factory in the village, the local Marshal is keen for Guarnaccia to stay and help out with the murder investigation.

The two Carabinieri officers find it frustrating that no one in the village seems to want to help them find the killer. They are met with a wall of silence and are convinced they are not being told the whole truth about the girl’s movements on the day she was murdered.

The breakthrough comes when they speak to a retired doctor about the grim events that took place in the village during the German occupation in the early 1940s.

Marshall Guarnaccia finally begins to see a pattern emerge, but puts his own life at risk when he goes to confront the murderer.

Magdalen Nabb tells the compelling story well and shows the reader life in a part of Tuscany that tourists seldom visit, drawing on her own knowledge of the ceramics industry she herself had worked in.

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(Picture of Florence by Helena Volpi from Pixabay)

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