Books in series
#1
The Shape of Water
1994
The Shape of Water is the first in Andrea Camilleri's wry, brilliantly compelling Sicilian crime series, featuring Inspector Montalbano.
The goats of Vigàta once grazed on the trash-strewn site still known as the Pasture. Now local enterprise of a different sort flourishes: drug dealers and prostitutes of every flavour. But their discreet trade is upset when two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture. The coroner's verdict is death from natural causes - refreshingly unusual for Sicily.
But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case - even though he's being pressured by Vigàta's police chief, judge, and bishop.
Picking his way through a labyrinth of high-comedy corruption, delicious meals, vendetta firepower, and carefully planted false clues, Montalbano can be relied on, whatever the cost, to get to the heart of the matter.
The Shape of Water is followed by the second in this phenomenal series, The Terracotta Dog.
#2
The Terra-Cotta Dog
1996
A El gos de terracota, el comissari Montalbano descuida una investigació de tràfic d'armes flagrant per ocupar-se d'un enigma aparentment sense resposta. ¿Com pot ser que dos cadàvers dormin cinquanta anys abraçats sense que ningú els desperti? ¿I què simbolitzen la gerra plena de monedes, el càntir i el gos de terracota trobats al seu costat? Andrea Camilleri ens transporta a la ciutat imaginària de Vigàta per recrear la Sicília d'avui, un món de profundes arrels rurals que vol adaptar-se a la modernitat a cops de mitra i delacions. Una vegada més, el comissari Salvo Montalbano, que ha fascinat a Itàlia i ha fet famós a Andrea Camilleri, lector impenitent de les peripècies de Pepe Carvalho i amant com ell de la cuina ben feta, ens guia pas a pas en el seu recorregut per la màfia i ens meravella resolent un dels casos més enigmàtics de la història de Sicília.
#3
The Snack Thief
1996
In the third book in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series, the urbane and perceptive Sicilian detective exposes a viper's nest of government corruption and international intrigue in a compelling new case. 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 suspects the link between the two incidents. His investigation leads to the beautiful Karima, an impoverished housecleaner and sometime prostitute, whose young son steals other schoolchildren's midmorning snacks. But Karima disappears, and the young snack thief's life as well as Montalbano's is on the line . . .
#4
Voice of the Violin
1997
The Sicilian detective, Inspector Salvo Montalbano, is on the search for the killer of a young woman. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer (now disappeared) and her lover - an antiques dealer from Bologna. However, it is a mysterious, reclusive violinist who holds the key.
The fourth in the internationally bestselling series featuring the irresistible Sicilian detective.
Inspector Salvo Montalbano, with his compelling mix of humor, cynicism, and compassion, has been compared to Georges Simenon's, Dashiel Hammett's, and Raymond Chandler's legendary detectives.
In this latest novel, Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a lovely, naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; an antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna, whose charms Montalbano cannot help but appreciate. But it is a mysterious, reclusive violinist who holds the key to this murder.
#4.5
Un mese con Montalbano
1998
Trenta crimini da risolvere. Delitti d'amore, d'interesse, di mafia, frutto di ambizione, di esaltazione, di esplosivo furore o di logorante quotidianità. Trenta indagini alla ricerca di una giustizia possibile. Quella giustizia che il commissario Montalbano si sforza di perseguire nel cuore della Sicilia. Un uomo con un'esistenza ordinaria, da funzionario integerrimo, con un'eterna fidanzata lontana, in Liguria, e tre grandi passioni: il mangiare, il bere e la letteratura. Brusco, talvolta scorbutico, ma dotato di un'irresistibile carica di umanità e di ironia, Salvo Montalbano applica la propria intelligenza a uno straordinario campionario di delitti, premeditati e solo simulati. Un mondo feroce e violento, che egli affronta con le armi della logica, ma anche della pietà e dell'umorismo.
#4.7
Gli arancini di Montalbano
1999
Una serie di storie nelle quali il commissario Montalbano si imbatte nei delitti e nei criminali più eterogenei: una coppia di vecchi attori che recitano un funereo copione, un preside insospettabile che raggira una generosa prostituta...
#5
Excursion to Tindari
2000
Il commissario Montalbano indaga tra l'immaginaria Vigàta e Tindari, il promontorio a picco sul mare «col piccolo, misterioso teatro greco e la spiaggia a forma di una mano con le dita rosa». Un triplice omicidio è avvenuto - un giovane dongiovanni che viveva al di sopra dei suoi mezzi apparenti, due anziani pensionati seppelliti in casa che improvvisamente decidono una gita a Tindari. Li collega, sembra, solo un condominio. Ma Montalbano ha una maledizione, sa leggere i segni che provengono dall'antichissimo che vive nel modernissimo continente Sicilia: lo aiutano un vecchio ulivo contorto, la sua squadra, la svedese Ingrid, un libro di Conrad, e un Innominato senza pentimento.
#6
The Smell of the Night
2001
The number of Inspector Montalbano fans will continue to grow with this ingenious new novel featuring the earthy and urbane Sicilian detective. Half the retirees in Vigáta have invested their savings with a financial wizard who has disappeared, along with their money. As Montalbano investigates this labyrinthine financial scam, he finds himself at a serious disadvantage: a hostile superior has shut him out of the case, he’s on the outs with his lover Livia, and his cherished Sicily is turning so ruthless and vulgar that Montalbano wonders if any part of it is worth saving. Drenched with atmosphere, crackling with wit, The Smell of the Night is Camilleri at his most addictive.
#6.5
La paura di Montalbano
2003
In the latest mystery featuring Inspector Montalbano, a deadly accident at a building site prompts a search with shocking revelations
Yesterday morning around seven thirty, an Albanian construction worker, age thirty-eight, Pashko Puka, a legal resident with a work permit, hired by the Santa Maria construction company owned by Alfredo Corso, fell from a scaffold that had been erected during the construction of an apartment building in Tonnarello, between Vigàta and Montelusa. His coworkers, who immediately rushed to his aid, unfortunately discovered he had died.
There have been six events euphemistically called “tragedies in the workplace” in the past month. Six deaths caused by an inexplicable disregard for safety regulations. When the local magistrate opens an investigation, Inspector Montalbano is on the case. But Montalbano soon discovers that these seemingly unrelated incidents are only part of a larger network of crimes.
This intricate novella is a testament to Andrea Camilleri’s talent for building engaging plots that continue to charm readers by the thousands.
#7
Rounding the Mark
2003
The earthy and urbane Sicilian detective Inspector Montalbano casts his spell on more and more fans with each new mystery from Andrea Camilleri.Two seemingly unrelated deaths form the central mystery of Rounding the Mark. They will take Montalbano deep into a secret world of illicit trafficking in human lives, and the investigation will test the limits of his physical, psychological, and moral endurance. Disillusioned and no longer believing in the institution he serves, will he withdraw or delve deeper into his work?
#8
The Patience of the Spider
2004
The latest mystery in Andrea Camilleri?s internationally bestselling Inspector Montalbano series
Winning fans in Europe and America for their dark sophistication and dry humor, Andrea Camilleri?s crime novels are classics of the genre. Set once again in Sicily, The Patience of the Spider pits Inspector Montalbano against his greatest foe yet: the weight of his own years. Still recovering from the gunshot wound he suffered in Rounding the Mark, he must overcome self-imposed seclusion and waxing self-doubt to penetrate a web of hatred and secrets in pursuit of the strangest culprit he?s ever hunted. A mystery unlike any other, this emotionally taut story brings the Montalbano saga to a captivating crossroads.
#8.5
La prima indagine di Montalbano
2008
Prequel to the international bestselling Inspector Montalbano series.
Montalbano is thirty-five years old and still a bit naïve—and there are plenty of criminals ready to take advantage of his inexperience.
Montalbano’s First Case details our hero’s early years as a deputy inspector. While the story involves no bloody crimes, devoted readers are sure to find the scenes and sensations—not to mention the dose of spine-chilling suspense—that they have come to expect from Andrea Camilleri.
#9
The Paper Moon
2005
The latest mystery in Andrea Camilleri's internationally bestselling Inspector Montalbano series
With their dark sophistication and dry humor, Andrea Camilleri's classic crime novels continue to win more and more fans in America. The latest installment of the popular mystery series finds the moody Inspector Montalbano further beset by the existential questions that have been plaguing him of late. But he doesn't have much time to wax philosophical before the gruesome murder of a man-shot at point-blank range in the face with his pants down-commands his attention. Add two evasive, beautiful women as prime suspects, some dirty cocaine, mysterious computer codes, and a series of threatening letters, and things soon get very complicated at the police headquarters in Vigàta.
Read translator Stephen Sartarelli's post on the Penguin Blog.
#10
August Heat
2006
When a colleague extends his summer vacation, Inspector Salvo Montalbano is forced to stay in Vigàta and endure the August heat. Montalbano's long-suffering girlfriend, Livia, joins him with a friend-husband and young son in tow-to keep her company during these dog days of summer. But when the boy suddenly disappears into a narrow shaft hidden under the family's beach rental, Montalbano, in pursuit of the child, uncovers something terribly sinister. As the inspector spends the summer trying to solve this perplexing case, Livia refuses to answer his calls-and Montalbano is left to take a plunge that will affect the rest of his life. Fans of the Sicilian inspector as well as readers new to this increasingly popular series will enjoy following the melancholy but unflinchingly moral Montalbano as he undertakes one of the most shocking investigations of his career.
#11
The Wings of the Sphinx
2006
Food, love, and murder-Sicilian style-in the gripping eleventh installment of The New York Times bestselling Montalbano mystery series.
Things are not going well for Inspector Salvo Montalbano. His relationship with Livia is once again on the rocks and-acutely aware of his age-he is beginning to grow weary of the endless violence he encounters. Then a young woman is found dead, her face half shot off and only a tattoo of a sphinx moth giving any hint of her identity. The tattoo links her to three similarly marked girls-all victims of the underworld sex trade-who have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a prominent Catholic charity. The problem is, Montalbano's inquiries elicit an outcry from the Church and the three other girls are all missing.
#12
The Track of Sand
2007
Who would dare break into the home of the famous Inspector Montalbano?
Inspector Salvatore Montalbano wakes from strange dreams to find a gruesomely bludgeoned horse carcass in front of his seaside home. When his men come to investigate, the carcass disappears, leaving only a trail in the sand. Before long, two people report missing horses—Rachele, a champion equestrian, and Lo Duca, one of the richest men in Sicily. Then Montalbano’s home is broken into and ransacked and he is certain that the crimes are linked. As he negotiates the glittering underworld of legitimate horseracing and the Mafia's connection to it, the scrupulous and melancholy Montalbano is aided by his unorthodox methods, melancholy self-reflection, and love of good food.
#13
The Potter's Field
2011
Fundet af liget af en mand er bemærkelsesværdigt på flere måder: Liget er findelt i 30 dele, og det bliver fundet på en lermark. Tanken ledes hen på beretningen om Judas og de 30 sølvpenge. Mafiaen er kendt for at benytte symboler i forbindelse med likvideringer, men kunne det være camouflage? Vicekommissær Augello bliver mere og mere uomgængelig. Montalbano løser begge problemer.
#14
The Age of Doubt
2008
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Potter's Field, winner of the Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger Award and longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize
With their dark sophistication and dry humor, Andrea Camilleri's hugely popular Sicilian crime novels continue to win more and more fans in America. The day after a storm, Inspector Montalbano encounters a strange woman who expresses interest in a certain yacht scheduled to dock that afternoon. Not long after she's gone, the yacht's crew reports finding a disfigured corpse. Also at anchor is a luxury vessel with a somewhat shady crew. Both boats will have to stay in Vigàta until the investigation is over and, based on information from the woman, Montalbano begins to think the occupants of the yacht might know more about the man's death than they're letting on.
#15
The Dance of the Seagull
2009
Inspector Montalbano must search for his missing right-hand man, but is he already too late?
Before leaving for vacation with Livia, Montalbano witnesses a seagull doing an odd dance on the beach outside his home, when the bird suddenly drops dead. Stopping in at his office for a quick check before heading off, he notices that Fazio is nowhere to be found and soon learns that he was last seen on the docks, secretly working on a case. Montalbano sets out to find him and discovers that the seagull’s dance of death may provide the key to understanding a macabre world of sadism, extortion, and murder.
#16
Treasure Hunt
2010
The sixteenth irresistible mystery in the New York Times bestselling Montalbano series.
A hail of bullets interrupts a period of dead calm. An elderly brother and sister open fire on the piazza below their apartment, punishing the people of Vigàta for their sins. Montalbano is hailed as a hero when news cameras film him scaling a building—gun in hand—to capture the ancient pair of unlikely snipers.
Shortly after, the inspector begins to receive cryptic messages in verse from someone challenging him to go on a “treasure hunt.” Intrigued, he accepts, treating the messages as amusing riddles—until they take a dangerous turn.
#17
Il sorriso di Angelica
2010
The seventeenth installment of the beloved New York Times bestselling series that boasts more than 600,000 books in print
The last four books in Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series have leapfrogged their way up the New York Times bestseller list, perfectly positioning Angelica’s Smile to ascend to even greater heights.
A rash of burglaries has got Inspector Salvo Montalbano stumped. The criminals are so brazen that their leader, the anonymous Mr. Z, starts sending the Sicilian inspector menacing letters. Among those burgled is the young and beautiful Angelica Cosulich, who reminds the inspector of the love-interest in Ludovico Ariosto’s chivalric romance, Orlando Furioso. Besotted by Angelica’s charms, Montalbano imagines himself back in the medieval world of jousts and battles. But when one of the burglars turns up dead, Montalbano must snap out of his fantasy and unmask his challenger.
#18
Il gioco degli specchi
2011
Someone is toying with Italy’s favorite detective
In Game of Mirrors, Inspector Montalbano Mystery and his colleagues are stumped when two bombs explode outside empty warehouses—one of which is connected to a big-time drug dealer. Meanwhile, the alluring Liliana Lombardo is trying to seduce the Inspector over red wine and arancini. Between pesky reporters, amorous trysts, and cocaine kingpins, Montalbano feels like he’s being manipulated on all fronts. That is, until the inspector himself becomes the prime suspect in an unspeakably brutal crime.
#19
Una lama di luce
2012
In time for Andrea Camilleri’s ninetieth birthday, the nineteenth installment of his irresistible New York Times–bestselling Inspector Montalbano Mystery series
When Inspector Montalbano falls under the charms of beautiful gallery owner Marian, his longtime relationship with Livia comes under threat. Meanwhile, he is also troubled by a strange dream as three crimes demand his attention: the robbery and assault of a wealthy merchant's young wife, shady art deals, and a search for arms traffickers that leads him deep into the countryside, where the investigation takes a tragic turn.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
#20
Una voce di notte
2012
Two deaths lead Inspector Montalbano into investigations of corruption and power in the twentieth installment of the New York Times bestselling series
Montalbano investigates a robbery at a supermarket, a standard case that takes a spin when manager Guido Borsellino is later found hanging in his office. Was it a suicide? The inspector and the coroner have their doubts, and further investigation leads to the director of a powerful local company.
Meanwhile, a girl is found brutally murdered in Giovanni Strangio’s apartment—Giovanni has a flawless alibi, and it’s no coincidence that Michele Strangio, president of the province, is his father. Weaving together these two crimes, Montalbano realizes that he’s in a difficult spot where political power is enmeshed with the mafia underworld.
“The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fills the air of Sicily.” —Donna Leon
“The idiosyncratic Montalbano is totally endearing.” —The New York Times
“Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator.” —The Washington Post Book World
#21
Un covo di vipere
2013
In the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series, Montalbano investigates the death of wealthy accountant Cosimo Barletta in a case involving a string of mistresses and family secrets.
Inspector Montalbano enjoys simple pleasures: delicious food, walks along the water, the occasional smoke yet these are just the backdrop to his duties as a detective. His latest case is the killing of the wealthy Cosimo Barletta. Thought to be a widower living out a quiet life by the sea, Cosimo s sudden death, by gunshot to the neck, opens up his past to scrutiny. What Montalbano uncovers is Cosimo s trove of salacious photographs, used to extort young women, and a history full of greed and corruption. Montalbano, though resolved to find the killer, muses on where justice lies in his pursuit of a suspect or with one of Cosimo s innumerable victims getting the revenge they deserved?
Listening Length: 5 hours and 43 minutes
#22
The Pyramid of Mud
2014
The 22nd novel in the internationally and New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series
On a gloomy morning in Vigàta, a call from Fazio rouses Inspector Montalbano from a nightmare. A man called Giugiu Nicotra has been found dead in the skeletal workings of a construction site—a place now entombed by a sea of mud from recent days of rain and floods. Shot in the back, it appears he had fled into a water supply system tunnel. The investigation gets off to a slow start, but all the evidence points to the world of construction and public contracts, a world just as slimy and impenetrable as mud.
As he wades through a world in which construction firms and public officials thrive, Montalbano is obsessed by one thought: that by going to die in the tunnel, Nicotra had been trying to communicate something.
"The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fills the air of Sicily." —Donna Leon
#22.5
Death at Sea
2014
"You either love Andrea Camilleri or you haven't read him yet. Each novel in this wholly addictive, entirely magical series, set in Sicily and starring a detective unlike any other in crime fiction, blasts the brain like a shot of pure oxygen... transporting. Long live Camilleri, and long live Montalbano."
—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
Set on the Sicilian coast, a collection of eight short stories featuring the young Inspector Montalbano
In 1980s Vigta, a restless Inspector Montalbano brings his brash yet clear-sighted investigative style to eight enthralling cases. Death at Sea finds the detective seeking to bring justice to crimes—from those involving jilted lovers and deadly family affairs to an encounter featuring the assassination attempt against the Pope to murders in unexpected places—always with the mafia not far behind. This collection is an essential addition to any Inspector Montalbano fan's bookshelf and an excellent way to introduce new readers to Andrea Camilleri's unforgettable slice of Sicily.
#23
The Overnight Kidnapper
2015
The day gets off to a bad start for Montalbano: while trying to break up a fight on Marinella beach, he hits the wrong man and is stopped by the Carabinieri. When he finally gets to the office, the inspector learns about a strange abduction: a woman was abducted, drugged, and then released unharmed a few hours later. A few days later, the same thing happens again, but this time the woman abducted is the niece of Enzo, the owner of Montalbano’s favorite trattoria. The only link between the two events is that both women are thirty years old and work in a bank.
Alongside this investigation, Montalbano has to deal with an arson case. A shop that sells household appliances has burned down, and its owner, Marcello Di Carlo, seems to have vanished into thin air. Has he run off with his lover after a holiday in the Canary Islands? Is he fleeing from his creditors, or was he murdered by the mafia for not paying their protection money? At first this seems like a trivial case, but a third abduction—yet again of a girl who works in a bank—and the discovery of a body bring up new questions. Whose body is it? And where has Di Carlo’s secret lover gone?
#24
The Other End of the Line
2016
A wave of refugees has arrived on the Sicilian coast, and Inspector Montalbano and his team have been stationed at port, alongside countless volunteers, to receive and assist the newcomers. Meanwhile, Livia has promised their presence at a friend's wedding, and the inspector, agreeing to get a new suit tailored, meets the charming master seamstress Elena Biasini. But while on duty at the dock one late night, tragedy strikes, and Elena is found gruesomely murdered. Between managing the growing crowds at the landing, Montalbano delves into the world of garments, in the company of an orphaned cat, where he works to weave together the loose threads of the unsolved crimes and close the case.
#25
The Safety Net
2017
The new novel in the transporting New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series
Vigàta is bustling as the new filming location for a Swedish television series set in 1950. In the production frenzy, the director asks the locals to track down movies and vintage photos to faithfully recreate the air of Vigata in that time. Engineer Ernesto Sabatello, while rummaging in the attic of his house, finds some films shot by his father from 1958 to 1963, always on the same day, March 27 and always the same shot; the outside wall of a country house. Montalbano hears the story, and intrigued by the mystery of it, begins to investigate its meaning. Meanwhile, a middle school is threatened by a group of armed men, and a closer look at the situation finds Montalbano looking into the students themselves and finally delving into the world of social media.
#26
The Sicilian Method
2018
In the new novel in the transporting New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series, Montalbano finds his answers to a murder in a theatrical play.
Mimi Augello is visiting his lover when the woman's husband unexpectedly returns to the apartment; he climbs out the window and into the downstairs apartment, but one danger leads to another. In the dark he sees a body lying on the bed. Shortly after, another body is found, and the victim is Carmelo Catalanotti, a director of bourgeois dramas with a harsh reputation for the acting method he developed for his actors.
Are the two deaths connected? Catalanotti scrupulously kept notes and comments on all the actors he worked with, as well as strange notebooks full of figures and dates and names. Inspector Montalbano finds all of Catalanotti's dossiers and plays, the notes on the characters, and the notes on his last drama, Dangerous Turn—the theater is where he'll find the answer.
#27
The Cook of the Halcyon
2019
The new novel in the transporting New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series
Two deaths, the suicide a newly laid-off worker and an unscrupulous businessman found murdered, leads Inspector Montalbano to inspect the Halcyon, a nearly abandoned mysterious ship with no passengers.
#28
Riccardino
2020
The long-awaited last novel in the transporting and beloved New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano series
"At eighty, I foresaw Montalbano's departure from the scene, I got the idea and I didn't let it slip away. So I found myself writing this novel which is the final chapter; the last book in the series. And I sent it to my publisher saying to keep it in a drawer and to publish it only when I am gone." –Andrea Camilleri
Montalbano receives an early-morning phone call, but this time it's not Catarella announcing a murder, but a man called Riccardino who's dialed a wrong number and asks him when he'll be arriving at the meeting. Montalbano, in irritation, says: "In ten minutes." Shortly after, he gets another call, this one announcing the customary murder. A man has been shot and killed outside a bar in front of his three friends. It turns out to be the same man who called him.
Thus begins an intricate investigation further complicated by phone calls from "the Author" in tour de force of metafiction and Montalbano’s last case.
#1-3
Death in Sicily
The First Three Novels in the Inspector Montalbano Series--The Shape of Water; The Terra-Cotta Dog; The Snack Thief
1738
Collected in one volume—the first three books in the bestselling Inspector Montalbano mystery series “You either love Andrea Camilleri or you haven’t read him yet. Each novel in this wholly addictive, entirely magical series, set in Sicily and starring a detective unlike any other in crime fiction, blasts the brain like a shot of pure oxygen. Aglow with local color, packed with flint-dry wit, as fresh and clean as Mediterranean seafood—altogether transporting. Long live Camilleri, and long live Montalbano.” A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window American readers were first introduced to Sicily’s inimitable Inspector Salvo Montalbano more than ten years ago. Since then, the detective—and his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food—has won the affection of crime fiction aficionados and Italophiles alike. With Andrea Camilleri’s last two mysteries appearing on the New York Times bestseller list, it’s clear that interest in the series is at an all time high. Now, Death in Sicily features the Inspector’s first three adventures in one handy volume, offering new readers just the enticement they need to get started.
Author
Andrea Camilleri
Author · 69 books
Andrea Camilleri (born september 6, 1925 in Porto Empedocle) was an Italian writer. He is considered one of the greatest Italian writers of both 20th and 21st centuries. Originally from Porto Empedocle, Sicily, Camilleri began studies at the Faculty of Literature in 1944, without concluding them, meanwhile publishing poems and short stories. Around this time he joined the Italian Communist Party. From 1948 to 1950 Camilleri studied stage and film direction at the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts, and began to take on work as a director and screenwriter, directing especially plays by Pirandello and Beckett. As a matter of fact, his parents knew Pirandello and were even distant friends, as he tells in his essay on Pirandello "Biography of the changed son". His most famous works, the Montalbano series show many pirandellian elements: for example, the wild olive tree that helps Montalbano think, is on stage in his late work "The giants of the mountain" With RAI, Camilleri worked on several TV productions, such as Inspector Maigret with Gino Cervi. In 1977 he returned to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, holding the chair of Movie Direction, and occupying it for 20 years. In 1978 Camilleri wrote his first novel Il Corso Delle Cose ("The Way Things Go"). This was followed by Un Filo di Fumo ("A Thread of Smoke") in 1980. Neither of these works enjoyed any significant amount of popularity. In 1992, after a long pause of 12 years, Camilleri once more took up novel-writing. A new book, La Stagione della Caccia ("The Hunting Season") turned out to be a best-seller. In 1994 Camilleri published the first in a long series of novels: La forma dell'Acqua (The Shape of Water) featured the character of Inspector Montalbano, a fractious Sicilian detective in the police force of Vigàta, an imaginary Sicilian town. The series is written in Italian but with a substantial sprinkling of Sicilian phrases and grammar. The name Montalbano is an homage to the Spanish writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán; the similarities between Montalban's Pepe Carvalho and Camilleri's fictional detective are remarkable. Both writers make great play of their protagonists' gastronomic preferences. This feature provides an interesting quirk which has become something of a fad among his readership even in mainland Italy. The TV adaptation of Montalbano's adventures, starring the perfectly-cast Luca Zingaretti, further increased Camilleri's popularity to such a point that in 2003 Camilleri's home town, Porto Empedocle - on which Vigàta is modelled - took the extraordinary step of changing its official denomination to that of Porto Empedocle Vigàta, no doubt with an eye to capitalising on the tourism possibilities thrown up by the author's work. In 1998 Camilleri won the Nino Martoglio International Book Award. Camilleri lived in Rome where he worked as a TV and theatre director. About 10 million copies of his novels have been sold to date, and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and North America. In addition to the degree of popularity brought him by the novels, in recent months Andrea Camilleri has become even more of a media icon thanks to the parodies aired on an RAI radio show, where popular comedian, TV-host and impression artist Fiorello presents him as a raspy voiced, caustic character, madly in love with cigarettes and smoking (Camilleri is well-known for his love of tobacco). He received an honorary degree from University of Pisa in 2005.
