View source for The Treasure Hunt by Andrea Camilleri

{{infobox1
|title=The Treasure Hunt
|sort=Treasure Hunt
|author=Andrea Camilleri
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crime
|summary=The sixteenth book in the Montalbano series is as fresh as ever.  It's not one of the best in the series - but that's still head and shoulders above a lot of the competition.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=290
|publisher=Mantle
|date=September 2013
|isbn=978-1447228783
|cover=1447228782
|aznuk=1447228782
|aznus=1447228782
}}

Life for Montalbano and his team was slow: it seemed that even the criminals were taking life easy and there was almost a sense of relief when an elderly man and his sister began firing into the street below their Vigata apartment.  There wasn't a lot of news either - which was why Montalbano found himself the reluctant hero of the news programmes as he climbed up the outside of the building.  What he didn't realise was that a life-sized rubber doll (you know ''exactly'' what I mean) found in the apartment would dominate his life, particularly when 'her' twin was found in a rubbish bin.  I mean, where do you keep such things?  In a cupboard?  Under the bed?  Montalbano could tell you the drawbacks of both those locations.

Soon after there was the treasure hunt.  No - not one of those awful office outings - but someone sent Montalbano a challenge in the form of a riddle and then there were more challenges.  In busier times they might have gone straight in the bin, but he persisted and gradually realised that it wasn't just directed at him, but ''involved'' him.  Then there was the student who wanted to understand how Montalbano ''thought'' - why he could solve cases with apparent ease.  It seemed reasonable to use the student to solve the mystery of the treasure hunt, particularly when a young woman went missing.  Add to this his girlfriend, Livia, being not entirely reasonable, Catarella confusing (and being confused by) everyone and Mimi Augello being just a little too involved in the investigation of the girl's disappearance...

This isn't one of [[The Paper Moon by Andrea Camilleri|the greats]] of the series but that still places it head and shoulders above a lot of the competition.  There's a real sense of Sicily and the food left me permanently hungry.  I loved too the way that Camilleri achieves that wonderful balance between something being utterly tragic and ridiculously funny.  My reservation on this book was that I worked out very early on exactly where the case was going - and I couldn't understand why Montalbano wasn't following that line of enquiry.  I read in the hope that I was going to be stunned by an alternative scenario and disappointed when it didn't materialise.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

It would be possible to read the book as a stand alone, but you would do better to begin at the [[The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri|beginning]].  It's no hardship, I promise. For another detective who loves his food you might like to try [[The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (Vish Puri Mysteries) by Tarquin Hall]].

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[[Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano Books in Chronological Order]]

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