The Pyramid of Mud

The Inspector Montalbano, Book 22

By: Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli - translator

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

This novel in the New York Times best-selling series has Italy's favorite detective uncovering corruption and mafia ties in the world of construction and public spending.

On a gloomy morning in Vigàta, a call from Fazio rouses Inspector Montalbano from a nightmare. A man called Giugiù 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, 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.

©2018 Andrea Camilleri (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Another winner

I hope book twenty three comes out soon. A lot of twist and turns in this book. A true detective story and a little risk taking. If you are an Andrea Camilleri, Inspector Montalbano, his comrads and Grover Gardnen fan then this book will make you happy.

Excellent as always!

murder-investigation, law-enforcement, mafia, Sicily ----------
Another convoluted mess for the police to untangle, and in the middle of an unusually vicious rainy season. It seems odd to this American that the mob, payoffs, and the protection racket is so out in the open and simply facts of life. The publisher's blurb gives hints and there is no need for spoilers, but the side thread of Montalbano's trying to deal with Livia's depression from afar is well done.
Grover Gardner gives his usual fine performance as narrator.

Very enjoyable

Love this mystery series with quirky, memorable characters. The narratorsvoice is perfect for the main character.

Liked the book. Didn’t love the performance.

I hate writing anything negative and rarely do so. I love the Montelbano books. This is my first Montelbano audiobook. Perhaps I had a preconceived notion of what he would sound like. This isn’t it. I expected Montelbano to sound gruffer. In text he barks commands and often is gruff. Instead, I thought he often sounded like a cross between a Brooklyn accent and Jack Benny. Also, why would a Sicilian character speak with an Italian-American accent in Sicily? Didn’t get it. The performance took away from the book for me. Next Montelbano book was will read.