The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

For someone residing in India, you can totally relate to Inspector Montalbano and his police unit. In here you may find a police playing snake in his cracked phone, while a corpse is rotting to his side. You may find them arguing over a brand of whiskey they would have after shift or you may find two PC’s enacting Star Wars on the crime scene with their batons. Ok the latter one is gone too far, but the point is no one gives a hoot about the crime until a high brass asks them to do so. Most of the characters in this book, especially in the police unit have some kinda indolent attitude and everyone works in very lethargic manner yet they deliver what asked of them when they are railroaded.

So when city’s big-shot politician is found dead in his car, in a place called ‘Pasture’, with his pants down it doesn’t come as a surprise to Monatalbano, when everyone of his unit concurs with the idea that the old man died of stroke whilst stroking a prostitute, going by the sordid reputation of the place where he is found.  It’s a comically ironic to find a man of such repute to die in way he did.

But for Montalbano who although is dying to go along with the herd and wrap the case to avoid the great deal of effort to act otherwise, seems to differ in his mind that everything is not as innocent and straightforward as it seems it is. Why then the most reputed and powerful person of the city, negligent to his social image, strolls in a place like Pasture in search of prostitute. Surely he is not short of better place to carry out the task than inside a car however pimped the car maybe. Surely he can get a class-A sex worker at his doorstep in just a call. No- Someone is pouring water to crafted jar, to take the shape one desires. Surprisingly these thoughts tickle the brain of the Montalbano alone although he himself is not surprised by it and probes on the case a bit more, when everyone else has returned to their merry world.

It’s my first Andrea Cammilari book, and it ticked all the boxes of my checklist that I thought before buying it. It’s got raw sardonic humor, convincing characters, good dialogues and a great story.

Author in his forward at start of the book tells us how he defied everyone who told him that Sicily is not a perfect backdrop to set a detective story in and how it went on to be a major hit. Glad he was so adamant, because you have here a very good detective book, which treads its own path, in an already populated genre.  Although I do think that some of its authenticity is lost in translation, nevertheless its job well done. Eagerly looking forward to read other books in the series.