Andrea Camilleri - The Dance of the Seagull

“if I sing the song, i’ comes out Surrientino ”:Neapolitan dialect for Sorrentino .

Via Piscio:i.e., “Piss Street.”

Tertium non datur :“No third possibility is given” (Latin).

Mimì was speaking Italian, a bad sign:i.e., instead of Sicilian.

Pilatus docet :“As Pilate teaches,” that is, it’s better not to dirty one’s hands (Latin).

Also by Andrea Camilleri

The Shape of Water

The Terra-Cotta Dog

The Snack Thief

Voice of the Violin

Excursion to Tindari

The Smell of the Night

Rounding the Mark

The Patience of the Spider

The Paper Moon

August Heat

The Wings of the Sphinx

The Track of Sand

The Potter’s Field

The Age of Doubt

To request Penguin Readers Guides by mail (while supplies last), please call (800) 778-6425 or e-mail reading@us.penguingroup.com. To access Penguin Readers Guides online, visit our Web site at www.penguin.com.

* Richmond Lattimore translation.

Praise for Andrea Camilleri

and the Montalbano Series

“There’s a deliciously playful quality to the mysteries Andrea Camilleri writes about a lusty Sicilian police detective named Salvo Montalbano.”

— The New York Times Book Review

“The books are full of sharp, precise characterizations and with subplots that make Montalbano endearingly human . . . Like the antipasti that Montalbano contentedly consumes, the stories are light and easily consumed, leaving one eager for the next course.”

— New York Journal of Books

“This series is distinguished by Camilleri’s remarkable feel for tragicomedy, expertly mixing light and dark in the course of producing novels that are both comforting and disturbing.”

— Booklist

“The novels of Andrea Camilleri breathe out the sense of place, the sense of humor, and the sense of despair that fills the air of Sicily.”

—Donna Leon

“Hailing from the land of Umberto Eco and La Cosa Nostra, Montalbano can discuss a pointy-headed book like Western Attitudes Towards Death as unflinchingly as he can pore over crime-scene snuff photos. He throws together an extemporaneous lunch . . . as gracefully as he dodges advances from attractive women.”

— Los Angeles Times

“In Sicily, where people do things as they please, Inspector Montalbano is a bona fide folk hero.”

— The New York Times Book Review

“Sublime and darkly humorous . . . Camilleri balances his hero’s personal and professional challenges perfectly and leaves the reader eager for more.”

— Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is an investigator.”

— The Washington Post

“Montalbano is a delightful creation, an honest man on Sicily’s mean streets.”

— USA Today

“Camilleri can do a character’s whole backstory in half a paragraph.”

— The New Yorker

“[T]he humor and humanity of Montalbano make him an equally winning lead character.”

— Publishers Weekly

Also by Andrea Camilleri

The Shape of Water

The Terra-Cotta Dog

The Snack Thief

Voice of the Violin

Excursion to Tindari

The Smell of the Night

Rounding the Mark

The Patience of the Spider

The Paper Moon

August Heat

The Wings of the Sphinx

The Track of Sand

The Potter’s Field

The Age of Doubt

To request Penguin Readers Guides by mail (while supplies last), please call (800) 778-6425 or e-mail reading@us.penguingroup.com. To access Penguin Readers Guides online, visit our Web site at www.penguin.com.