The Shape of Water Audiobook By Andrea Camilleri cover art

The Shape of Water

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Shape of Water

By: Andrea Camilleri
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $9.32

Buy for $9.32

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Early one morning, Silvio Lupanello, a big shot in the village of Vigata, is found dead in his car with his pants around his knees. The car happens to be parked in a rough part of town frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers, and as the news of his death spreads, the rumors begin. Enter Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Vigata's most respected detective, who has his doubts about the way Silvio died. With his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food, Montalbano goes into battle against the powerful and the corrupt who are determined to block his path to the real killer.

Andrea Camilleri's novels starring Inspector Montalbano have become an international sensation in eight languages. This funny and fast-paced Sicilian thriller will be a delicious discovery for mystery aficionados and fiction lovers alike.

Translated by Stephen Sartarelli.

Solve another mystery with Inspector Montalbano.©1994 Sellerio editore via Siracusa 50 Palermo; 2002 Stephen Sartarelli (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.
Crime Thrillers Fiction International Mystery & Crime Police Procedural Suspense Mystery Thriller Witty Murder Mystery
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"[This] savagely funny police procedural prove[s] that sardonic laughter is a sound that translates ever so smoothly into English." (New York Times Book Review)
"Subtle, sardonic, and molto simpatico: Montalbano is the Latin re-creation of Philip Marlowe, working in a place that manages to be both more and less civilized than Chandler's Los Angeles." (Kirkus Reviews)
"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)

What listeners say about The Shape of Water

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    252
  • 4 Stars
    238
  • 3 Stars
    140
  • 2 Stars
    39
  • 1 Stars
    22
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    295
  • 4 Stars
    155
  • 3 Stars
    82
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    16
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    222
  • 4 Stars
    189
  • 3 Stars
    108
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    15

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Elegant and light

And elegant and gracefully told tale that is almost more like a short story, that really focused on the human characters and the environment. It was very pleasant, and I feel like it could go in several directions, but I would certainly read more. Extremely well written overall.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hard to follow in audio format, but well written

Grover Gardner was fantastic in narrating this. He always is. In fact, I found the book by putting his name into the audible search engine.

It is very witty, and a lot of fun… But the plot is so extraordinarily complex that I found it very hard to track all of the different characters.

I think perhaps the series would be better for me if I were to actually read it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A good beginning

I backtracked to this one because I started with Terra Cotta Dog and loved it so utterly that I had to know Montalbano from the beginning. This first one is definitely a delight, but Terracotta is much better, much funnier. Still, I'm glad I came back to the start. Buyers: Know that it only gets better. My only complaint about this one is that it's SO SHORT! Barely an evening by the fire. That can be a mercy when you're reading someone awful, but sad when it's as good as this one.

AUDIO: The reader is an excellent choice. He's not totally perfect, but close enough. He has a good sense of, and is a good fit for, this wonderful character.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator was the worst I’ve ever heard

The narrator sounded like he was doing an impression of a 40s gangster movie totally ruins the story for me!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not the best translation or narrator

I've been really wanting to read the Camilleri novels, since I've heard so many great things about them.

Unfortunately, this was a rather poor translation; on several occasions I was jolted out of the book by a word or phrase that just didn't work or was wrong. For example, a Sicilian word was translated as dawdling, and the translator explained that in Sicilian it meant to do nothing. So the character "dawdles" doing this and doing that about the house. First, a good translation never has to break the 'third wall' that way. Second, the English word is puttering or pottering, and if he had used that, no explanation would have been needed.

Secondly, the reader was rather stiff and rushed, and the characterizations were poor. The reader's style really didn't suit a book written partly in Sicilian dialect and set in a languid, relaxed place.

Overall, I was disappointed, especially since I could see the potential underneath these two problems.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Easy to follow, entertainng

The story was interesting. I enjoyed listening to this book. The second book, not so much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The shape of water

This is a great book about Inspector Montalbano. He is trying to solve a murder of an important man that was killed in a rough part of town. This is a good Mystery book and it has the right amount of Humor in it. I highly recommend this book and series. Grover Gardner does a great job narrating this book. If my review is any help will you please click on the helpful link below. Thank you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Complex and mysterious

The story has so many characters, twists and turns it’s sometimes hard to unravel. In many ways it’s a foreign story, in the culture and plot lines.

The narrator is good. That helps. It may also help to have a print version to refer to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the shape of water is a fun read

it's a fun read. it's easy to listen to and is at a good pace. this book is a relaxing book that I can listen to while working

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So good!!

I loved this book. Very humorous asides about Italian parliament and law enforcement. Great main character and nice discussions about simple and yummy food.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!