3.5*

Grover Gardner once again gives a marvelous narration (and lots of Catarella in this one - I especially like the voice Gardner uses for him!). With this series, I am torn between listening to the audiobook and reading the print (or ebook) edition; I love Gardner's narration but miss translator Stephen Sartarelli's notes. ( )

Bello, senza ombra di dubbio, e Camilleri è sempre un genio. ( )

This workmanlike twenty-third book in Camilleri's marvelous series shows us that no one knows the inner workings of the police, the media, and the Mafia like Salvo Montalbano. In fact, he knows these areas so well that I don't even bother trying to solve the mystery myself; I just sit back and enjoy watching the inspector do all the work.

Although The Pyramid of Mud does show us some of the ins and outs of Italian construction work, it's a stand-out for me in a different area: Livia. Normally, I don't care for the mysteries in which Livia takes part because all she and Montalbano ever seem to do is to pick fights with each other. Relationships based on fighting and making up are big yawns for me. But in this book, Livia is ill, and I found Montalbano's lack of focus on the murder investigation due to his concern for her to be touching. Could these two be mellowing in their advancing years? I hope so!

After reading this book, I'm one step closer to the series' end, something I'd rather not acknowledge. I'd always hoped that Montalbano would go on forever and ever and ever... ( )

A pretty weak effort by Camilleri. A convoluted story with a villain and the mafia working together to defraud the public with construction contracts using subpar materials. Starting off with a dead body at a construction site, which is dressed up as a lover's quarrel, Montalbano and his crew solve the complex crime, but have no solid evidence which the prosecutor can use for an arrest or even a warrant because the participants keep dying or disappearing. Money is the root of all evil. ( )

Tous les ingrédients sont là pour offrir une lecture rapide et agréable. ( )