The Snack Thief

The Snack Thief is 3rd in a series of novels by Andrea Camilleri about Sicilian detective Inspector Salvo Montalbano. These make entertaining reads. The Husband gave me several of these for Christmas, and I'm pacing myself and not reading them all in a row. Some of the books have been dramatized, including this one, but I haven't seen them.

from the back of the book:

Never has Inspector Montalbano's character -a unique blend of humor, cynicism, compassion, earthiness, and love of good food- been more compelling than in The Snack Thief.

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 Inspector Montalbano, with his keen insight into human nature, suspects a 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 mid-morning snacks. But when Karima disappears, and the young snack thief's life -as well as Montalbano's- is endangered, the inspector exposes a viper's nest of government corruption and international intrigue.

Eurocrime says, "Unflinching in its descriptions of life in the raw, yet with a sweet sense of place and yearning for simpler times, the tone is unerring." Memphis Reads has a review by Memphis librarian Doris Dixon which includes this:

In particular, I appreciated the insights the author offers into Sicily's politics and culture and the lives of its Tunisian immigrants. His depictions of the many people who annoy the Inspector are humorous. Other readers will no doubt enjoy Camilleri's lush descriptions of Sicilian cuisine.

I've read these:

1. The Shape of Water
2. The Terra-Cotta Dog
5. Excursion to Tindari
6. The Smell of Night
9. The Paper Moon
10. August Heat
11. The Wings of the Sphinx
12. The Track of Sand