August Heat (Camilleri) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for August Heat:

1. How would you describe the character of Inspector Salvo Montalbano?

2. How does Livia strike you? Is she justified in her anger at Salvo over the rental and how he dealt with the body found in the basement?

3. What is it about the developer Michele Spitaleri that makes Montalbano dislike him and want to prosecute him?

4. After Montalbano and Fazio's nighttime visit to Spitaleri's construction site to extract information from the watchman, Montalbano feels remorse for his actions. Why? Should he feel remorseful?

5. What was your reaction to the attraction between Salvo and Adriana?

6. What does the Inspector come to understand about attempting to prosecute Spitaleri for the death of the Arab workman? What is the reason given by his colleague, Inspector Lozupone of the neighboring precinct, for not following through on an investigation of the  accident?

7. Author Andrea Camilleri drops several red-herrings, false leads, along the way toward the final solution. Did any of them trip you up? In other words, whom did you initially suspect?

8. Were you surprised by the ending? If not, what led you to the murderer?

9. What does Salvo realize by the end, when he dives into the Mediterranean?

10. Does this dectective story deliver in terms of intrigue, mystery, characters? Is it a compelling read? If you're a fan of other detective series, how does this one compare, particularly the character of Inspector Montablano? Similar...different? As good as...?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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