AUGUST HEAT

While coastal Italy is awash in sweltering heat, Sicilian Police Inspector Salvo Montalbano is distracted by a gruesome discovery made in a friend's beach villa. The puzzling death of a young girl years earlier becomes his obsession while he survives the heat by indulging in his fondness for the local cuisine, cool swims, and scathing commentaries on Italian society. Sartarelli's translation captures the region's quaint idioms and slang without losing clarity or humor. Grover Gardner performs the role of the melancholy yet driven Montalbano with artistry, balancing cantankerousness with geniality. However, his baffling infusion of an American "gangsta" accent for police force underlings and construction laborers grates a bit. Fans of Camilleri's nine other mysteries will miss the common-sense injections of Montalbano’s girlfriend. A.W. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2011]