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A Nest of Vipers (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery Book 21) Kindle Edition

by Andrea Camilleri (Author), Stephen Sartarelli (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.4 2,034 ratings

Book 21 of 28: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery

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“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

Montalbano investigates the death of wealthy accountant 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?

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The mind games Montalbano plays with Giovanna will keep the pages turning... Expect the ending to make you squirm, though you have to admire Camilleri's ability to disarm horror with his particular charm; the town of Vigàta quietly soldiers on.”—Kirkus

Praise for Andrea Camilleri and the Montalbano Series

“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

“Hailing from the land of Umberto Eco and La Cosa Nostra, Montalbano can discuss a pointy-headed book like Western Attitudes Toward Death as unflinchingly as he can pore over crime-scene snuff photos. He throws together an extemporaneous lunch of shrimp with lemon and oil as gracefully as he dodges advances from attractive women.”—Los Angeles Times

“[Camilleri’s mysteries] offer quirky characters, crisp dialogue, bright storytelling—and Salvo Montalbano, one of the most engaging protagonists in detective fiction…Montalbano is a delightful creation, an honest man on Siciliy’s mean streets.”—USA Today

“Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator.”—The Washington Post Book World

“Like Mike Hammer or Sam Spade, Montalbano is the kind of guy who can’t stay out of trouble…Still, deftly and lovingly translated by Stephen Sartarelli, Camilleri makes it abundantly clear that under the gruff, sardonic exterior our inspector has a heart of gold, and that any outburst, fumbles, or threats are made only in the name of pursuing truth.”—The Nation

“Camilleri can do a character’s whole backstory in half a paragraph.”—The New Yorker

“Subtle, sardonic, and molto simpatico: Montalbano is the Latin re-creation of Philip Marlowe, working in a place that manages to be both more and less civilized than chandler’ Los Angeles.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“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

About the Author

Andrea Camilleri is the author of the New York Times bestselling Inspector Montalbano mysteries as well as historical novels that take place in nineteenth-century Sicily. His books have been made into television shows in Italy and translated into thirty-two languages. His thirteenth Montalbano novel, The Potter's Field, won the Crime Writers' Association International Dagger Award and was long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Stephen Sartarelli is an award-winning translator and poet.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01MTK80CT
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Translation edition (August 1, 2017)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2017
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2000 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 270 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #513,453 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,838 in International Mystery & Crime (Kindle Store)
- #3,688 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #3,712 in International Mystery & Crime (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 2,034 ratings

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Andrea Camilleri
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Andrea Camilleri is the author of the spectacularly successful Montalbano mystery series and many other novels set in nineteenth-century Sicily. His Montalbano novels have been made into an Italian TV series.
Photo by T cc-by-3.0 (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Patto

Montalbano has hundreds of suspects for this murder of a rich scoundrel

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2017

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Cosimo Barletta was a viciously self-serving businessman, a difficult father, a nasty womanizer and a loan shark who gloried in ruining people. Half the town had good reason to murder him. Bizarrely, he is twice-murdered on the same morning -- by poison and then, when already dead, by a gunshot to the head. Inspector Montalbano and his team hardly know where to start on this case.

Besides offering an absorbing police investigation. this book has great fun with all the usual characters. Tommaseo, the sex-obsessed prosecutor falls ill with excitement over all the unsavory carnal activity in this case. The foul-tempered coroner Dr. Pasquano gets especially rude and insulting if he's lost at poker the night before. Catarella continues to garble every message he gives Montelbano at the office. The inspector's long-distance girlfriend Livia always suspects Montalbano of lying to her (and he usually is). The inspector's two detectives exhibit their usual foibles.

I never tire of Camilleri's gags, which have a consistent flavor, yet feel fresh every time. Happily, there are plenty of hilarious bits in this book. I also enjoyed the inspector's moments of pleasure in the Sicilian sunshine and sea air -- and his glutinous appetite for good food (and his horror over squishy pasta). His ecstasy over his housekeeper's pasta 'ncasciata was so moving, I googled the recipe. And then there's Montalbano's attack of loneliness, his kindness to a vagrant, and his ultimate compassion for the killer to add poignancy to the narrative.

Camilleri again proves himself to be a master of comedy and tragedy combined in A Nest of Vipers. The translation seemed good to me. I could feel the Sicilian sea breeze, and the quirkiness of Montalbano's turbulent stream of consciousness came through vividly.

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James Hare

Solid

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2020

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Another solid entry to the montalbano series. As has been the case with everyone I enjoyed reading it. It’s middle of the road montalbano which means it’s still and excellent read.

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Amazon Customer

Intriguing and Disturbing

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019

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I picked up the Detective Montalbano TV series, by chance, and became hooked on this wonderful character. played by superb actor Luca Zingaretti, and a fantastic cast of characters. This very intriguing story. A Nest of Vipers, made me want to purchase the book, the first one actually, as I wanted to check how closely the the TV production followed the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find that yes, both go hand in hand, as Andrea Camilleri, the author and creator of Det. Montalbano also contributes to the TV script.

Camilleri, in this story touches on a very disturbing and unusually unspoken crime (I won't reveal any of the plot) that even a seasoned, and street savvy detective as Montalbano, finds revolting, yet in his usually keen analysis looks for a human motive to give it closure. It is a very entertaining story, well written and easy to read, dark and amusing. It can be picked up on its own, but I would recommend, those who have never read or seen this wonderful series, to start reading the first stories in order to get an insight into the relationship of all the wonderful recurring characters throughout the series. I'm planning to purchase other Montalbano books. Andrea Camilleri has created a fantastic world with Sicily as its backdrop, where the Mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians are behind the crimes, and an intuitive, funny and heart driven Detective Montalbano is out to face them. A very good read!

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Alison S. Coad

Vipers Everywhere!

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2017

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When an older man is found shot dead in his kitchen, at first Chief Inspector Montalbano thinks it’s a fairly straightforward murder. But closer examination leads to the conclusion that the man was poisoned to death and then shot, indicating not one but *two* intended murderers, and when Montalbano probes into the man’s life, he begins to think there could be hundreds of potential suspects, so venal and downright evil the man had been…. It’s always a treat to get a new Montalbano novel, this one being from 2013 but translated to English in 2017 by the great Stephen Sartarelli; this is, I think, the 21st novel in the series, and it is full of the author’s trademark humour, love of food and, yes, beautiful women all over the place. My only quibble has to do with format; I bought the Kindle edition and the notes provided by Mr. Sartarelli at the end of the book are sometimes hard to access, first because the format doesn’t let the reader know there *is* a note about a given phrase or sentence, and second because one has to check the *next* note in order to know to look it up when one reaches that moment in the story. Otherwise, recommended as ever!

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Jose Pelaez

Investigation With a Touch of Humor

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2018

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Any of the stories by Andrea Camilleri are a pleasure to read. Full of insights of life in a small town in Sicily, but mostly full of humor. Montalbano is an old curmudgeon, but a very likeable old curmudgeon. He delivers his own sense of justice by sidestepping the trappings of politics and corruption. An enjoyable read.

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Dragonfly

Montalbano gets more than he bargained for in "Nest of Vipers"................

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017

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"A Nest of Vipers" is a let down after so many of the other Camilleri books. There was just something about the victim's daughter that made me realize all wasn't right. If the reader is careful, the clues are there for the reader to easily pick out and see. By halfway in the book I realized what was going on, and I lost interest in continuing on. The old idea of "it takes two to tango" here is certainly correct----the theme is as old as time itself, and always excuses are made for "that sort of behavior." Here, we have lots of red herrings and potential perpetrators of the crime, but the light doesn't shine for the good Inspector until the very end. Montalbano's long-time girlfriend Livia and the cave-dwelling homeless man are used here to throw readers off the scent, but those who are perceptive and careful in their reading habits will find the clues do add up----long before the ending.

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Armando campos

Ótimo.

Reviewed in Brazil on February 18, 2021

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Tudo de Andrea Camilerri é ótimo.

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chagal4

Hello Again Old Friend

Reviewed in Canada on September 25, 2017

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I've been a fan of Camilleri for at least a hundred years. He never fails to charm…never fails to deliver insights into humanity…never fails to untangle a mystery without blowing up the town or shooting everyone in sight. Over the years I've come to know Montalbano and his crew. The devastating betrayal of killer cops in America has tarnished thousands of serving men and women whop want to keep us safe…and I admit that the tarnish has soured me. In Montalbano I see a cop I could sit and share a drink with…and that extends, obviously to Camilleri. I recently attended the memorial for a friend who also loved Camilleri…taught himself Italian so that he could read the books in that language. That in itself is a tribute I applauded.

anwar bham

Very good read

Reviewed in Spain on January 14, 2019

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Loved it really good read

Elaine Simpson-long

Sheer joy, as always

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2017

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A man is found shot dead by his son. It seems that the victim is a loan shark, a hard business man and changes his young lovers every few months after having taken compromising photos of them and using them against them later. So the list of suspects is pretty long.

there is no need for me to go into details of the plot or how Montalbano uncovers a simply awful family at odds with each other, the Nest of Vipers of the title, as if you are fans of Camilleri's work you will know and love them.

I read these books for total sheer enjoyment for meeting the wonderful Catarella again, Fazio who seems to do most of the ground work in the station, Mimi Augello who though married still has an eye for the ladies and seems to get away with doing the minimum. I love love love them and settled down to read this with a cup of coffee and a Do not Disturb Sign on my door and I did not move until I had finished it. A total joy from start to end, witty, amusing, funny and, at the end when the solution is shown, rather disturbing and sad.

Loved every word

11 people found this helpful

Robi Roberto

Ein Doppelmord der besonderen Art

Reviewed in Germany on January 23, 2018

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In Montalbanos 21. Fall (die Bände mit den Kurzgeschichten nicht mit eingerechnet) geht es um den Mord an einem älteren Unternehmer. Schon bald stellen Montalbano und seine Mitstreiter Fazio und Mimi fest, dass der Ermordete eine Vielzahl amouröser Abenteuer hatte, bei denen er seine Geliebten auf übelste Art und Weise behandelte. Darüber hinaus hat er als Geldhai mit Wucherzinsen viele seiner Kunden in den Ruin oder sogar Selbstmord getrieben. Daher mangelt es nicht an Verdächtigen mit den allerbesten Mordmotiven.

Natürlich kommt auch in diesem Fall Montalbanos Privatleben nicht zu kurz. Anders als zuletzt streitet Montalbanos langjährige Freundin Livia mit ihm nicht nur aus der Distanz am Telefon mit ihm, sondern besucht ihn diesmal auch wieder persönlich. Und auch der stets lüsterne Staatsanwalt Tommaseo und der Montalbano in inniger Feindschaft verbundene Gerichtsmediziner Pasquano kommen nicht zu kurz.

Wie bereits in den letzten Bänden ist Andrea Camilleri nach einigen leichten Durchhängern auch diesmal wieder eine sehr gute Balance aus spannendem Krimi und Privatleben des schrulligen und gleichzeitig sympathischen Ermittlers Montalbano gelungen, bei dem auch die kulinarischen Ausflüge wieder ihren festen Platz haben. Die Lösung des falls ist raffiniert, erschütternd, aber zugleich auch sehr plausibel. Die Reihe um Montalbano ist in der Folge die einzige, der ich seit bisher 21 Fällen die Treue halte und mich schon auf Nummer 22 freue!

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A Nest of Vipers (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery Book 21) Kindle Edition

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