The Last Montalbano

I have always been a bit of a re-reader—and this habit has served me well during the last few weeks. Due to both covid lockdown and illness my supply of new books had dried up, so I went searching my shelves for something to read for a second or third time—and discovered a few I hadn’t yet read, and among these unreads, I found a quirky little novel that I really enjoyed, in fact I laughed out loud at times. Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny could be classifed a rom-com ( I refuse to use the term chicklit), but I think it is more. Jane is a teacher, newly arrived in Boyne City, Michigan, ready to teach early primary. After being in Boyne for less than three weeks, Jane accidentally locks herself out, and when the locksmith—Duncan, a handsome older man—arrives, she is immediately smitten. They start a relationship—intense on her side, but not so much on Duncan’s. Jane soon realises that she has to share Duncan with most of the women of the town, including his exwife Aggie, whose current husband refuses to mow the lawn, so Duncan helps out. Duncan is a woodworker and a jack of all trades. He has an offsider called Jimmy, who has learning difficulties that Jane thinks would have been overcome if he had some help earlier on. Eventually, Jane dumps the overcommitted Duncan, and finds herself a more suitable boyfriend, Luke Armstrong, a financial analyst, who is smart, ambitious, kind and loyal and values family and education. Cut to two days before their wedding and the  mothers-in-law have arrived in town. Trying on her wedding dress, worrying about the pre-wedding dinner, coping with her mother, Jane realises that she is not happy—will this wedding prove a great mistake, or will it all turn out alright in the end? I really liked this book. I found it very funny and very real. I especially loved Jane’s mother—in a class of her own! And, it is published by 4th Estate, one of my favourite publishers.

Death Goes on Skis by Nancy Spain is another light-hearted story, but this time murder’s afoot, rather than relationship trouble. Originally published in 1949, it has recently been reprinted by Virago with an introduction by the lovely Sandi Tovsvig, of QI fame. I read and enjoyed Nancy Spain years ago. Nancy led a very interesting life, as a journalist, radio presenter, and on television. During the Second World War,  she was a driver and wrote, in a very funny way, of her time in WRNS, which became a best-seller. Death Goes On Skies is one of a set of crime novels she wrote after the war. They are great fun, full of the most incredible characters, amazing places and over the top stories. Nancy preferred farce and humour to a more serious approach to crime. In Death Goes on Skies a group of friends go skiing in the alps—among which are Miriam Birdseye, daring, brilliant and the dashing heroine and leader of the group. As time passes secrets are exposed, tensions arouse, and murders take place. Miriam, along with Russian ballerina Natasha Nevkorina, another member of the group, join forces to try and solve the crimes. There is so much in this book, the wonderful characters with wonderful names, two obnoxious children and their governess, and the other members of the party—that should be enough to moisten your appetite. As an aside, I remember with great nostalgia, listening to a radio programme called My Word! Nancy was on a panel with three others, and the ones I most remember were Frank Muir, Denis Norden and Dilys Powell. I loved it, and tried never to miss the programme. Fortunately my family loved it as well. There was also My Music which was great as well!

Having dealt with at least two of the unreads on my shelves, I got to the comfort of the re-reads—this time around, the wonderful Andrea Camilleri and his Inspector Montalbano Mysteries. I love these books and I am quite happy to  read them again. I love everything about them, the characters, the stories, the politics and the location. It’s impossible to choose one book in particular from the series, to me there is not  a bad one. I like the fact that Montalbano and his crew are on the side of the disadvantaged, the refugees and  the lesser members of the community. I also like his love for food and drink, the way that Adelia always leaves something eat in the oven or refrigerator, and how Enzo’s, his favourite restaurant, is his second home. I will quote from the Guardian, which expresses all this better than I can: ‘Montalbano’s colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today.’ Very sad to say Riccardino—the last Montalbano novel—is to be published in October. I’m looking forward to it, but I don’t want it to end!